Breaking the Illusion
by saturday101
Summary: He has made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child; she's made almost just as many. Mistakes tend to add up to a record-breaking number when you've lived nearly six millenniums. Indefinite amount of self-chosen drabbles. Post LR.
1. Color

In all the years she had known him, he had never dyed his hair. This in itself would be insignificant if it weren't for two things: the unusual silver color of said hair, and the fact that this was their eighty-fourth set of identities.

His artificial brown eyes flickered to her. "What are you thinking, Glynda?" Had they been anywhere near the students, he wouldn't have dared to be so familiar with using her first name, but in the teacher's lounge, they were safe.

"About how interesting it would be for us to switch hair colors."

"I agree," said Peter Port cheerfully, "though I do believe Ozpin would make a wonderful blond – sir, are you all right?"

In a brief breach of character, the silver-haired man had doubled over in laughter. He straightened, eyes twinkling with mirth. "Interesting indeed."

Glynda responded with a Cheshire smile, a lovely mental image of Professor Ozpin with pink hair lingering in her brain.

**AN: Another "this character is actually this character" story. (You have no idea how many of these I've actually come up with and not published.) It should be pretty obvious who the two are, but I'm curious as to how obvious. At any rate, it won't be explicitly stated until the end.**

**Yes, it's short, but these are just going to be a bunch of drabbles. I have the last two chapters already finished (ish) so that whenever I want to stop, it'll actually have a conclusion.**

**By the time it's finished, this will most likely be very, very, very inaccurate. **

**Oh, well.**


	2. Hidden Messages

**Another chapter just because they're both extremely short.**

With their distant, professional business relationship, sometimes it was all too easy to forget how long they had known each other and how well they could read each other.

"Sir?" she asked, a note of concern in her voice. _What's wrong?_

Ozpin rubbed his temples tiredly. "I'm fine. It's only a headache." His rapid blinking told otherwise, and, based off of years of experience, she knew a rose-haired phantom was haunting him.

"I'm fine, Aina." _I'm not fine. Help me._

"Wrong assistant, Headmaster."_ Remember where you are. You're safe – she's not here._

"Ah, my apologies." He blinked a few more times, and the feverish glaze cleared away. "What were we discussing?"_ Distract me, please._

"This year's class roster." Glynda transferred the stack of student files from her arms to Ozpin's desk. "I've taken the liberty of putting them in alphabetical order." _You and your OCD tendencies._

"Thank you, Miss Goodwitch." His grateful smile had a tinge of mischievousness. _You're a lifesaver, but your last name is ridiculous._

"Hmph." _Better than Ozpin. You're welcome._

**A/N: One more note: I'm a OzpinxGlynda shipper. I'll keep this is as gen as I can, but no guarantees there won't be hints of it. (I'm sorry! It's in my little shipper blood!) At least one chapter will have them pretending to be together-together to freak people out.**


	3. Thief

Strangely enough, with every new cycle of identities, their bodies aged differently. They always looked the same (save for eye and hair color), of course, but little things changed – for example, her deteriorating eyesight.

She herself didn't think much of it once she was sure it wouldn't affect her shooting accuracy – it was just a minor inconvenience.

He, however, thought her near blindness was hilarious and decided to steal her glasses at every possible opportunity.

"Where is he?" She stormed into the classroom. Oobleck had had a minor accident, leaving him perfectly fine, but out of commission. Ozpin, having been the history teacher before becoming headmaster, had decided to take over for the duration of Oobleck's recovery.

"Ah, Miss Goodwitch." He was just a blur, but his voice betrayed his amusement. "Do you need something?"

"Yes, it seems my glasses have gone missing, _again_." She slapped her riding crop against her palm. "You wouldn't happen to know where they've gone, would you?"

"What was that?" The laughter in his voice infuriated her. "Could you come down here and repeat that?"

She took a deep breath and slipped off her boots. Each became a dangerous projectile aimed at his head. Both, she knew, were caught effortlessly. One of the blurry students started clapping awkwardly, and she descended the stairs quickly, but carefully.

They were becoming dangerously close to breaking professionalism, but neither seemed to care at that point.

"My glasses, please." She held out her hand. "And my boots, if you don't mind."

Ozpin retrieved her glasses from the inside of his bandanna and handed them and her boots over without protest. "Anything else?" he asked as she reassembled her image.

"Glasses."

The (now clear) silver-haired man actually had the nerve to roll his eyes as he removed his tinted spectacles and gave them to her.

"Thank you. I apologize for the interruption." She turned on her heel and started up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, Glynda paused and turned back toward Ozpin. "If you're mocking me, Alexander Ozpin, with your unnecessary glasses…"

"No, ma'am."

"And for Yeul's sake, stop stealing mine!" Without another word, she stalked through the door knowing that her glasses would disappear again within the week.


	4. Slip-ups

Sometimes they slipped up.

Most were small things – her reaching for a gun at her side instead of a riding crop in her boot; him calling her Aina or, sometimes, Alyssa; them referencing an event that hadn't happened in Remnant's history…

Really, considering their true, chronological ages (and they'd lived much longer than the fifty-six years they claimed), it was hardly surprising, however inconvenient.

And it was terribly inconvenient.

James Ironwood blinked slowly. "What did you just say?"

Glynda frowned and looked at Ozpin who had slapped a hand to his face. "You'll have to forgive her." The silver-haired man smiled as disarmingly as he could. "It seems, General, that Miss Goodwitch mistook you for her brother-in-law in her old age. We will…call you back later." Ozpin shut off the transmission hurriedly.

Silence fell over the room (save for the ever-turning gears above them). Their eyes met, and he burst out laughing.

"What'd I say?" she hissed. "And stop laughing!"

"You said," he shook his head in disbelief, "you said, 'For the love of Etro, Snow, don't you ever shut up?' Which, of course, wouldn't have been a problem if we hadn't been in the middle of an international meeting."

"You've got to be kidding me!" She groaned. "I can't believe I mistook him for Snow!"

"Why not? You're old - those four thousand and sixty-three years must have finally caught up to you."

"Oh,_ I'm_ old? You're, like, five hundred years older than me!"

"Hey, hey, don't say that so loud!"

**...The more I write a character, the harder it is to keep them in-character...**

**How obvious are their identities? I'm just curious.**


	5. First Impressions

She wasn't sure what to make of the girl in the red cloak. The girl was obviously brave and on her way to becoming a skilled Huntress if the way she dealt with the dust thieves was any indication, but chasing said thieves? Pure recklessness. What could she – a fifteen-year-old girl – do against several armed gunmen, Roman Torchwick (a former student from Haven Academy, if memory served correctly), and whoever that mysterious woman was.

Besides, the girl was irritatingly immature – not even Lumina would do something as childish as asking a Huntress for her autograph after a life or death situation.

It was the girl's childish behavior that she focused on after bringing the girl into custody and reporting what had happened to Ozpin. (She somehow knew that he was silently laughing at her from the shadows as she lectured the girl. It was annoying, but she had to agree – she _was_ getting too good at it.)

It was the stupidly brave behavior that they focused on as the silver-haired man came in to meet her.

Anyone would be able to tell he was impressed by the girl, but only Glynda recognized his scientific researcher side coming out as he gathered information and his barely noticeable excitement bringing his professionalism down a notch. (Honestly, Ozpin, calling the girl adorable was going to make people's mental pedophile alarm go off.)

But his calm, professional "director/headmaster" persona came back into play as the girl described why she wanted to become a Huntress and go to Beacon Academy (and her explanation threw them both for a loop).

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, voice nearly but not quite betraying his amusement.

"You're Professor Ozpin," the dark-haired girl said, suddenly subdued. "You're the headmaster at Beacon."

He chuckled. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you." At the very least, no one could say she didn't have manners.

The silver-haired man leaned forward, resting his hands on the table separating him and the girl. "You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything," she uttered solemnly.

He glanced up at Glynda.

She rolled her eyes and looked away. _As if you need my approval._

"Well, okay." Through her peripheral vision, he almost looked like the shy teenager he once was. After leaving the room, he asked, "What do you think of her?"

"…She's what would have happened if you and Vanille had a love child."

"Oh, _Etro_, no."


	6. Overload

His speech at the First Years' opening ceremony was supposed to be warm, welcoming, provide information on the initiation, but as soon as he called the students wasted energy, she knew something was wrong.

No, that wasn't true. She knew something wrong as they waited off-stage for all the students to gather in the amphitheater. The room grew louder as it filled with chattering students until there was a constant dull roar in the background.

It was about that point that she noticed he hadn't stopped moving in the last five minutes, constantly shuffling his feet, adjusting his clothes and glasses, or tugging on his hair.

"Are you all right?" She touched his arm hesitantly.

Ozpin gave a small yelp and pulled away.

Her artificially green eyes narrowed. "Oz –"

"I'm fine." He edged away from her and scanned the crowd. "I believe they're all here." He started up the stairs and across the stage, cane thudding dully against the floor.

The speech was more of a kick in the pants than a welcome, which was _not_ what he had written ahead of time. She scrambled to the microphone as he walked off stage using his cane as a support (more than usual), gave the necessary information the students needed, and dismissed them.

Then she gave chase – well, as much chase as she could in heels. "Ozpin!"

He was already halfway across the courtyard but stumbled a little. (That was what she hated most about having to wear heels – he could leave five minutes before her and be where he needed to be ten minutes before she could catch up despite being crippled.)

With a roll of her eyes and a string of swear words under her breath, she pulled her boots off and sprinted after him. She caught up a moment later.

"I'm fine," he said automatically.

"No, you're not." The blonde was taking two steps for every one he did, so she was practically trotting along next to him. "You need to –"

"Hole myself up in my office in a pile of pillows and blankets with hard rock blasting through the speaker to drown out all the rest of the noise. I _know._"His words were unusually scathing. "Would you just leave me alone?"

She barely blinked. "No. Not until I know you're actually going to do what you need to do. Remember last time? The full-blown panic attack you had during the Vytal Festival a few years back?"

He gave a low growl from the back of his throat.

"Please. You know how much I hate it when you get like this." His height was used to her advantage for once as she gave him her best kicked puppy look.

"…Fine."

A satisfied smile spread across her face. "Good. I'll walk you to your office."

"Seriously?"

"Can't have you running away again."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I have never seen someone suffering from sensory overload, nor do I have it. Everything I know is from a lot of research and a _Criminal Minds_ fanfic by Scotty1609. I'm fairly certain that the hard rock part is completely inaccurate, but I figured that it's fine. No one said they were normal.**

**Shout out to my four followers, two favorite-ers, and one reviewer.:) You guys are the best.**


	7. Imprint

"Our last pair has been formed, sir – Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren," Glynda said, eyes back on her scroll. "Poor boy. I can't possibly imagine those two getting along – it would be like expecting Noel and Vanille to work well together. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos."

"Hm…"

"And don't bring up transcripts! I don't care what his say. Jaune Arc is not ready for this level of combat." She closed her scroll and walked a short distance away. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple within a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?"

He remained silent, eyes focused on his scroll.

"Professor Ozpin?"

"What do you think of Miss Schnee?" he asked, finally. "She reminds me of someone, but I can't quite remember…"

The blonde walked over and looked down at the video feed of Ruby and Weiss. "Nabaat. She's like Jihl Naabat with a soul. That was the woman who tried to defend Dysley before being killed by him."

"Ah."

"And here I was thinking you were stalking Miss Rose." She smiled mischievously. "People are going to think you're a pedophile, sir."

"G-Glynda!"

A giggle escaped her before she smothered it with her hand. "If Weiss Schnee would be Jihl, who would Ruby be?"

"I'm not sure. Mr. Arc acts a bit like Snow, however."

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like him. Who would be Serah?"

"Pyrrha," he responded automatically. "Are we really having this conversation?"

"Why not? There's not much else to do right now." She shrugged. "As I said before, Vanille would be Nora, and Ren would be Noel."

Ozpin looked up at the sky almost pleadingly before sighing and turning to face her. "Miss Belladonna would be Yeul – or is, at least, the closest one to her."

"Yang Xiao Long would be Fang." Then as an afterthought she added, "If Fang was as girly and OCD about her hair as Yang is."

"Imprinting our friends and family onto our students," he mused. "We must be getting old."

"Well, give it about four years, and we won't be anymore." Glynda smiled and poked him in the side. "Did you figure out who Ruby would be?"

"Between her cape, her weapon, and her personality, I thought it would be obvious by now." The silver-haired man glanced at his scroll and did a double-take. "The students are fighting off a Nevermore and a Death Stalker."

The blonde looked down at the video feed. "It appears that they've naturally divided into teams and appointed the leaders. This was definitely unexpected."

The two continued to watch as the initiates fought off the two Grimm with surprising speed and efficiency.

"…We should probably go and make sure they don't die."

"Yeah…"


	8. Grief

It wouldn't be until after the First-Years' initiation, the team forming, and the drama between Weiss and Ruby that he would realize one specific thing: the cave that Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos had found the Death Stalker in wasn't on any map of the Emerald Forest. In fact, there was no record of it anywhere, meaning it had never been found before then.

So he stole away while Glynda was busy teaching her Combat Strategy class, cane and flashlight in hand, and took a "short" walk to the cave. If anyone had asked, he would have said that he was simply doing his duty as Headmaster and inspecting school grounds, but, while that was true, it was more accurate to say that he needed to sate his curiosity about the cave – that and he _really_ didn't feel like doing paperwork.

He wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't the small graveyard he found.

The names on the tombstones were what made him flee to call Glynda.

**"****You found what?"** she asked. The area's poor signal made his scroll's audio full of static.

"A cemetery in the cave Jaune and Pyrrha found." He spoke quickly, as if he couldn't get the words out fast enough.

**"****Was this really so important that you needed to call me now? I'm in the middle of class."**

"Glynda, it's _them_."

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the call. **"I'll be there ASAP." **The call ended abruptly.

What seemed like an eternity later, she flew out from the trees, boots in hand, hair coming loose from her bun. "Where?"

He led her deep into the cave until the ceiling opened up to let sunlight shine through onto ten flat stones standing upright.

She covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide. "They were here all this time. Right under our noses after we had given up on finding them millenniums ago."

He clicked the flashlight off. "_Lord,_" he breathed. "We knew they were dead, but this –"

"This is different…This makes it real."

Silence settled over the two as they stared at each grave, taking in every detail: the archaic lettering of the names and dates, the cracks in the crumbling stones, the dark green ivy that had wound itself around all but one of them. Finally, the two got up, not bothering to brush the dirt from their clothes.

As they exited the cave, one of them said numbly, "Vanille would want flowers. We should –"

"Yeah."

Nearing the school, they tried to clear their faces of their shock, but they remained pale.

"I don't want to go back to class," she whispered when they reached the courtyard. "I can't."

He nodded, took her hand, and led her towards his office. Perhaps, if anyone had seen them, the rumor mill would have run wild, but neither were entertaining romantic notions. They were simply trying to keep each other from breaking.

But their students wouldn't quite understand that concept – not yet.


	9. First Day

She stood at the front of the classroom, arms crossed. Thick books and a stack of papers were piled on her desk. "Welcome to First-Year English. You should all know me by now, but I shall introduce myself again. I am Professor Goodwitch. Though you have all come here to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, Beacon Academy believes it is still necessary for you to continue to learn the basics. This class will assist you with your assignments in other classes as well. Does anyone have any questions?"

One lone hand was raised.

The blonde woman nodded at the purple-haired girl. "Yes, Saffron?"

"I heard that we'll read _Third Crusade_ in this class. Is that true?"

"Yes."

The girl's red eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

A boy with brown hair raised his hand. "What's _Third Crusade_?"

"Seriously?" Saffron rolled her eyes. "It's this really rare book about the Savior – you _do _know who that is, right?"

"Yeah. Who doesn't? I mean, with all the books about him –"

Glynda coughed lightly. "The Savior was a woman."

"But all the books say –"

The purple-haired girl nodded. "All of them except _Third Crusade_, which was confirmed as the original_._ It's also the only version with a connection to Hope Estheim."

Eyebrows began to raise. Everyone had heard of Hope Estheim after all – he been the one who had laid the foundation for the ancient Atlasian empire, which had been the most technologically advanced civilization to date. Even modern technology was a far cry from what it once was, thanks to a war that almost completely restarted society. Only through some miracle (AKA, one of Ozpin's earlier identities) did any record of history remain.

Goodwitch suppressed a smile. "We'll read it second semester. Any other questions?"

"Are you and Ozpin married?"

"Anything that's not about my personal life?" When the class was silent, she nodded. "Tomorrow class will truly begin, and you _will_ work hard. Please keep that in mind. For now, however, take a textbook and a syllabus from my desk. You are free to leave afterward." Without another word, the blonde stepped away from her desk and started up the stairs.

The students began to murmur amongst themselves nervously. "Are we just supposed to go?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"This is weird."

"What about class?"

The voices faded as she exited the classroom. A quick glance at her scroll revealed a message from Ozpin. **_How did your class go?_**

**_Good._** Her mouth twitched into an amused smile. **_I messed with the First-Years' heads._**

**_Of course you did. _This_ is the reason I didn't want to give you that class._**

**_Please. I'm mild compared to Kim._**

**_I think that's what worries me..._**

* * *

**I...don't even know anymore. I think this is mostly for some world building - I do have a rough idea of the history, but nothing really concrete.**


	10. Clothes (or: Wow, what a stupid title)

_'__There's one every year.' _He sighed as he dodged yet another attempt to steal his scarf from his neck, catching the would-be thief by the arm. "Can I help you, Ruby?"

The girl squeaked in fear. "Yang dared me to steal your scarf, and if I don't get it to her by dinnertime – which is in an hour, by the way – she's gonna lock me in the closet with a spoon."

"…A spoon."

"Last night we watched a movie about a demon who'd possess spoons and –"

"I think I get the idea." There was something wrong with movie writers these days. "What did you say you needed?"

"Your scarf."

He sighed and removed the piece of cloth from his neck. "I would like this back in one piece."

"T-thank you, Professor Ozpin!"

"Yes, well, don't make a habit out of this."

She lingered in front of him nervously, then ran off.

The silver-haired man turned and started towards his office, cane in hand, his fingers itching to reach up and hide the pale claw marks across his neck.

~:~

"What in the world did you do to your scarf this time?" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, wait. Let me guess. It got stolen by a Fourth-Year, and then somehow fell into the garbage disposal."

The silver-haired man rifled through an open desk drawer, not bothering to look up. "Ruby needed it so that she wouldn't be locked in a closet with a spoon."

"What?" Glynda blinked in confusion.

"Best not to ask." He closed the drawer with a frown. "Do you know where my spare went?"

"That was the spare, sir." She rolled her eyes affectionately and brought a piece of folded turquoise cloth out from behind her back. "But I've brought a replacement."

His eyes lit up. "How on Remnant did that survive?"

"A couple preserving spells placed a few centuries ago." She walked forward and handed him the bandanna. A smile twitched on her face as she tried to contain her laughter. "But then I realized that it clashed _horribly_ with your outfit, so I took the liberty of retrieving another for you." Clothes reminiscent of his Academy uniform was held out towards him.

He took it, eyeing it thoughtfully.

"What? You don't like it?"

"No, no, it's not that…I'm just curious which will throw the students off more – my scars or a vastly different set of clothes."

Glynda's smile suddenly turned sad. "She really did a number on you that time, didn't she?"

"It only caused massive bleeding and minor vocal damage." His voice was deceptively light.

"Yeah. Your voice finally dropped," she teased.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but instead of laughing, he simply shook his head. "We should go. Dinner will be starting soon."

"Right." Before starting towards the door, the two paused to look at an old, worn photograph sitting in a frame on his desk. In it, four young adults stood with their arms around each other and huge white cliffs in the background. All four were laughing, as though the photographer had just said something particularly funny, and all had on a gray Citadel Academy uniform on. Three of the students had a certain look in their eyes, betraying the existence of their past horrors - horrors that were slowly being healed with the help of their friends' presence.

Ozpin and Glynda knew that, just a few years after the photo was taken, the war would break apart the four forever.

**I was going to end on a happy note, but then my brain was like "No! You need foreshadowing for all the flashback chapters you're going to do!" Ugh. Expect the first of the flashbacks next week.**

**Citadel Academy is the name I came up with for Atlas's school.**

**The white cliffs actually exist in an actual famous place.**

**Ozpin suffering because why not.**

**That ending though.:/**


	11. Recognition

"Hi."

He looked up from his journal. A blond girl in a black combat skirt (or whatever they were called) stood over him. "Hello."

"Can I sit here?" she asked. Her voice was oddly familiar.

"Go ahead." He refocused on the design in front of him. _'It still needs a power source. Most are using dust, but that seems…inefficient. It could have another power source, leaving dust as the reserve. Something like AMP tech__…__But what could –'_

"What are you working on?"

The stream of ideas in his mind came to a sudden stop. He sighed. "It's a design for an airship." Then, out of obligation, he asked, "What about you?"

She held up an unfinished drawing, and he stilled. It depicted a girl with her dog, a metal man, a scarecrow, and a large red beast on its hind legs walking down a brick path. The bricks and the city in the background were only outlined, but the focal point (the characters) were nearly finished and extremely detailed.

That wasn't what made him pause.

The drawing was an iconic image in a different world, made famous by a book-turned-movie. Long ago, it would have been normal for people to remember it, but that generation had been gone for over four-thousand years.

"You…are really good at drawing." Inwardly he winced. _'That's the best you could do?'_

"Thanks." The girl smiled, but there was a touch of nervousness about it. "So I heard that they're going to pair us up, then form teams of four. If possible, do you want to stick together? I know we just met and all, but I don't really know anyone since I'm the only one from Vacuo here, and –"

"All right," he found himself saying. The corners of his mouth lifted in a kind of half-smile. "I'm Alexander Ozpin."

"Glynda Goodwitch – yes, I dress like a witch because of my name."

"I'm surprised you aren't in white with a crown and wand." _I know who you are. Do you recognize me?_

"Not my style, but I'm working on the wand. And you don't look like a little man hiding behind an illusion either." _Yes. _

They met each other's eyes and smiled.

"Nice to meet you. Regardless of whether we can be partners, let's keep in touch." _I missed you. I don't want to be separated again._

"I'd like that." _We won't be. I promise._

The next day, the two were literally dropped into a labyrinth with their (chosen) partner in order to form their teams. Surprisingly (or not), the two worked together and functioned like a well-oiled machine, navigating the labyrinth with barely a spoken word.


	12. Narwhal

"Where's Ozpin and Goodwitch?" Saffron asked. She stabbed her fork into her spaghetti and took a bite. "I haven't seen them all day."

Her team looked at each other and shrugged. "Who knows?" A white-haired boy pushed his food around on his plate. "They're not exactly predictable. Why does it matter anyway?"

"Jeez, there's like _no_ seats in the Third-Year section." A dark-haired girl and brunet boy walked over to the table to the two empty seats next to the First-Years. "Is there just a big class this year or what?"

The boy smiled and shrugged. "Is it okay if we sit here?" The question was directed towards team SAGE.

"Um, sure."

"Thanks." The two sat down with their trays. "I'm James Reid."

"Arena Cross."

The purple-haired girl grinned at them and gestured to her team with her fork, starting with a dark-haired boy. "That's Al," her fork moved to a girl with yellow eyes, "Ginger," to a white-haired boy, "Elder, and I'm Saffron."

Once the proper pleasantries were exchanged, Arena moved her tray to the side, brought out a thick sketchbook, set it on the table, and stared at it blankly.

"What are you doing?" Al asked.

"Trying to get over my art block." She took out a pencil and hovered over the page. "It's been a really long time since I've suffered from it, so I feel like I can't function until I conquer it. James said I should draw my sister, but…"

"Draw her on a narwhal," Ginger said through a mouthful of food.

The upperclassmen stared at her. "A narwhal," the brunet boy repeated.

"Uh-huh." The yellow-eyed boy girl swallowed. "Y'know, unicorn of the sea and all that. Swims in the ocean. Causes a commotion."

Arena hesitated, then quickly made some rough shapes of a girl on a horned whale-looking thing. "Like this?"

"Yeah, there you go."

The dark-haired girl took a bite of her food, then began finishing the drawing. Her hand flew across the page, pencil refining the sketch with dark outlines. Soon the shapes weren't simply shapes, but clear forms of a girl with a side ponytail on a narwhal. She paused. "James, eat."

"I'm not hungry." Reid had a worn journal opened to a detailed design of what looked like a robotic arm. He tugged at a strand of his hair and stared at the page pensively.

"James…" There was a distinct note of warning in her voice.

Without taking his eyes away, he took a bite of his pasta.

Someone coughed something that sounded suspiciously liked "whipped".

"Tch, whatever." Arena rolled her eyes and returned to her drawing. The finer details began to take shape, the girl's hair becoming curls and the narwhal's horn becoming spiraled. Waves began to form. Shading and folds appeared. Finally, she slammed her pencil down. "Time?"

"Ten minutes," James said monotonously.

She swore loudly.

The other upperclassman sent a dark glare in her direction. "Just because you slowed down doesn't mean you have to murder my ears."

"Sorry, not sorry." Despite her words, Arena avoided his gaze.

A silence settled over the table, broken only when Elder coughed lightly. "Have you ever thought about how funny it'd be if you replaced the word 'sorry' with 'television'?"

Saffron giggled. "Television, not television."

"I'm television, what?"

"Oh, television, I thought you could hear me."

Ginger started laughing as her teammates continued their antics. "I-I can't even." Tears began streaming down her face as it grew red.

"Are you all right?" Arena's eyebrows knit in concern.

Elder rolled his eyes. "She's fine. She has the same reaction when she plays with a napkin dispenser."

James looked up with a frown. With a wave of his hand, the air began to weave itself into a metal napkin dispenser. He opened it up, revealing the metal spring loader and jiggled it with his finger.

Ginger, who had begun to calm down, began laughing even harder.

"How did you know?" Al asked. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as the yellow-eyed girl reached over to play with the dispenser herself.

"My mother was amused by the same thing." The brunet boy pushed it towards her.

"Hey!"

James winced, his hands flinching up towards his ears. The napkin dispenser shattered like glass and disappeared.

A blond professor walked over. "Lunch is over. Get to class or you'll be late."

Team SAGE stood and began gathering their things. Al frowned. "Are you two coming?"

The upperclassmen shook their heads. "We don't have class after this," Arena explained. "We're not in any rush. It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you!" The First-Years made their way towards the door.

The professor turned towards the remaining two. His gold eyes narrowed. "Neither of you are students here…Who are you?"

James held up a finger and glanced over to the retreating stream of students. Once the last student exited through the doors, he smiled.

Their appearances shattered.

Ozpin ran a hand through his hair. "I almost lost control of the illusion when you yelled, Jun."

"How was I supposed to know?" Kim Jun Hwan tightened his ponytail with an indignant frown. The corners of his mouth suddenly quirked upwards. "And you say _I'm_ weird, Glynda."

Goodwitch said nothing, simply staring at the drawing in front of her thoughtfully.

"Glynda?"

Slowly the blonde took her pencil and began adding several small characters with big heads, little bodies, tiny bat wings and ears, and a long antenna adorned with a pom-pom. Each of the creatures had different clothes and hairstyles.

Ozpin looked over and nearly burst out laughing. "Is…Is that…?"

"Yup."

Professor Kim looked back and forth between the two as they struggled to contain their laughter and rolled his eyes. "I'll never understand you two." He left them with the drawing.

Only then did they allow themselves to fall over themselves in hysterics about Serah on a narwhal with Mog and the moogle versions of Snow, Fang, Vanille, Hope, Lightning, Sazh, Dajh, Yeul, and Noel flying around her.

**Kim Jun Hwan is a reference to Edward Elric but coded enough to fit Monty's rules.**

**Speaking of Monty's rules, the fake names Glynda and Ozpin provided do in fact follow them though they weren't intended to. Reid means red, and Arena means sand, so...yeah:) However, they were previous identities of the two from before the War. In fact, Ozpin does this regularly - that is, disguises himself and socializes with his students. It helps him gather information on them, but more importantly, it helps him bond with them without the whole "the-headmaster's-here-wow-this-is-awkward" thing. Usually, he goes as one of his previous identities (minus appearance, of course), but occasionally he'll try his hand at an actual student at Beacon.**


	13. Retribution

They sat in the back of Oobleck's classroom, a very weak illusion masking their presence. Ozpin quietly observed the caffeinated teacher's lecture, occasionally taking notes in neat capital letters. Glynda sat in the next seat over, filling out paperwork in identical handwriting.

She quickly forged his signature and glanced up.

A few rows up, Jaune grudgingly slid a packet of papers over to Cardin.

"Should we do something about this, sir?" she murmured.

"Hm?" He looked over at her, then to where she pointed. With a nod, he pulled out a scrap of paper, scribbled something down, and passed it to her. Not directly. If we were to interfere, they would learn nothing. But we could speed the process along.

_What do you suggest we do?_

Does Port still have that zoo of Grimm in the basement?

~:~

AO:**In position.**

GG:**What about the students?**

AO:**Nearby.**

She closed her scroll and pocketed it with a sigh. In order for their plan to work, they had to cover and prevent any potential interference. She'd unfortunately gotten the short end of the stick – supervising the First-Years' field trip to Forever Fall.

There wasn't much entertainment in watching students collect tree sap (though Nora Valkyrie eating it straight out of the jar was interesting).

A sudden distant roar tore her from her thoughts.

"Professor Goodwitch?" A man half her age asked hesitantly. "Did you hear something?"

"No," she said quickly. "Go back to your team, Indigo. You still have your assignment to complete."

Indigo frowned but nodded and walked away.

Three-fourths of CRDL ran screaming into the clearing. "Ursa! Ursa!"

"Professor Goodwitch!" Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long ran up. "An Ursa's attacking Jaune and Cardin!"

She sighed. "Right. Show me where."

By the time the five made it back through the forest to where the others were, the Ursa lay dead on the forest floor, and Jaune was walking away from a shaken Cardin. His friends congregated around him and the group began walking away.

The blonde strode over to the red-headed male. "Well, you have certainly made a mess, haven't you? We'll discuss the consequences of your actions later, Mr. Winchester, with Professor Ozpin, but for now, kindly retrieve your teammates and finish your assignment for Professor Peach."

"Y-yes, Professor Goodwitch!" Cardin ran off, quickly passing teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Oz?" she called quietly.

"I'm here," he murmured in her ear, making her flinch.

She pulled out her scroll and feigned typing a report to the headmaster. "What happened?" the blonde muttered under her breath.

"Things went a bit ahead of schedule. Cardin was about to send Rapier Wasps after JNPR."

"Rapier Wasps?!" Glynda looked up at the retreating figures of her students, searching for any sign of injury.

"Jaune stopped him before anyone got hurt," he reassured. "I released the Ursa before things got ugly."

She let out a sigh of relief. A sudden thought popped into her mind, and she looked down at the quickly evaporating body of the Grimm. "We're gonna have to replace that, aren't we?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We'll have to go hunting after dinner."

"Port is going to want to come." The blonde shuddered at the thought of the older man accompanying them on their hunt and attempting to regale them with stories of his former glory days. (Or was he younger? Physically, Peter Port was older than both of them by a few years, but quite frankly there was no one alive older than them chronologically. Which one were they supposed to count?) Next to her, the air seemed to shudder simultaneously.

"Then we'll have to keep him from finding out."

**A/N: This is basically what happens when you rewatch RWBY (again) and realize how much you actually have to work with. There had to be a reason you never see Goodwitch during the whole "Ursa" incident.**

**Oh, and the Goodwitch/Ozpin sitting in on lectures came from the times I swore I saw Ozpin walk by in the background during [insert professor's name here]'s lecture.**

**Sorry it's late!**


	14. P(r)awns

She really shouldn't have been surprised when she saw him scribbling furiously on a piece of paper, his scroll half-hidden under numerous other sheets of paper scattered all over his desk.

"What is this?" she asked flatly.

"Qrow sent a message." He didn't even look up. "'Queen has Pawns.'"

"Annoyingly cryptic isn't he? As usual." The blonde strode over and scanned his notes. "So you're trying to figure out what he means?"

"Yes. We've known for a long time that there is someone working against Remnant, but this…Queen is still a mystery."

She picked up a sheet of paper. "I see you put down anything that came to mind again. Let's see…Port, Oliver, Glynda – seriously?"

He shrugged.

"Raven, which you crossed out, Ca –" Glynda broke off and looked at him.

"I crossed that one out as well."

"I see that." She pointed to the thick scribbles obscuring the name. "Well, obviously Qrow made a typo and Oliver Queen is bringing prawns to our next get together. How did you convince that rich kid to go bowling again?"

Ozpin gave a snort of laughter. "Really?"

"Eh, it made you laugh." Glynda began tearing the list into individual names. "First of all…" the strip containing her name was torn up into tiny pieces and thrown into the air. "Port is equally unlikely, and honestly so is Oliver. Isn't he still trying to repair Astéri?"

The silver-haired man nodded, shuffling the rest of his notes into some semblance of order.

"That leaves Raven Branwen and –" there was a brief, nearly unnoticeable pause, "Calanthe Foth. Raven has been missing for nearly twenty years, so while it's plausible it may be her, it's also highly unlikely."

"I was afraid you'd say that." He sighed.

"It wasn't your fault, you know. Calanthe being kidnapped –"

"I know. I just wish we could have done more."

"We did as much as she would let us. It was her choice to leave Beacon and mine to keep her from going after the sleazebag that experimented on her. She was my student, and if I had allowed her to take the path of revenge…"

"I know." His eyes shut briefly as he took a deep breath. "I know, but –"

"Don't even go there. I've gotten over it. I promise."

"But –"

"_No._" She reached over and flicked him in the nose. "Bad."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine." Ozpin muttered something under his breath.

The blonde smiled. "Come on. You've been cooped up in here all night."

"And pray tell where are we going?" The silver-haired man stood, grabbing his cane from its resting place on the side of his desk.

"Well, since you skipped dinner and all, I thought we'd sneak down to the kitchens and some food. The mention of prawns made me hungry."

"If you insist." The two made their way to the elevator. As the doors closed, Ozpin glanced back at the papers scattered across his desk and the scraps littering the floor. He grimaced. "If only there was a way for my office to magically clean itself."

Glynda gave a snort of laughter. "Please. I'm your partner, not your maid."

**A/N: Slightly early because I felt bad for posting the last chapter so late. And I really wanted to get this one out of the way. It's...not exactly my best work. I like the ending and all, but the middle...**

**See, I originally planned for Calanthe to be Ozpin's student, but then I figured that was too much angst, so Glynda got her. I'll just assume that Oz has a slight guilt complex.**

**Credit to TeamPotterorJackson (Hi, Violet!:D) for Glynda's ridiculous theory for what Qrow's message meant.**

**Updated 2-18-16: Changed Glynda's student from Cinder to Calanthe. For...reasons:D**


	15. Illusion

"Thank you, officers," he said lightly as he walked over to the two policemen standing with his students. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long sat on a bench in the police station, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'll take it from here."

"We've got one more being questioned in the interrogation room. Do you want me to bring her out?"

"No, thank you. I'll get her myself." The silver-haired man strode over to the room the officer had indicated and walked in. All it took was a single glare to make the interrogator flee from the room.

Blake Belladonna sat on the other side of the table, watching the exchange blankly.

"Well, this has certainly been an eventful evening." As the dark-haired girl quietly acknowledged his words, he sat down in the vacated seat, setting down his cane and mug. "I'm sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery, you probably just want to go home and take a nap, but I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk."

Her yellow eyes narrowed. "Of course."

"Wonderful." The corners of his mouth quirked upwards. He quickly reiterated what it took to attend Beacon – that is, the entrance exam. "You are one of the few that did not, and you passed the exam with flying colors." He took a sip of his coffee.

"I was raised outside the kingdoms." Blake shrugged. "If you can't fight, you can't survive."

"Well, you have most certainly survived, Blake. I admire your drive." It reminded him of the women who had raised him – his mother, of course, but also Fang, Vanille, Lightning, Serah… "And I am proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life. Rich, poor, human…"

_'Indigo Montoya – the man nearly twice the age of the average student, trying to assassinate me every chance he gets to avenge his father…'_

He hid his amusement behind his mug. "Faunus."

The dark-haired girl glowered at him.

"Why do you wear that bow, Blake? Why hide who you are?" The Faunus' Rights Revolution had allowed faunus to live outside of Menagerie, giving them a freedom that the faunus of his generation hadn't had. To see someone in the current day and age hiding their race for fear of prejudice was painful, especially considering the sacrifices made to get away from said prejudice.

"You may be willing to accept the faunus, Professor Ozpin, but your _species_ is not." She emphasized the word as a reminder of how "humans" refused to acknowledge Faunus as the same.

"True," he conceded, "but we are continuing to take strides to lessen the divide."

Blake scoffed. "With all due respect, you need to start taking some larger strides. Until then, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention. I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am."

Which brought the conversation exactly where he wanted it go be. He narrowed his eyes. "And what are you?"

"I…" she hesitated, "I don't understand what you're asking."

"How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?"

"I didn't. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time." Her defensive tone said otherwise.

"You wouldn't have been the first." That was the entire reason he had gotten where he was after all. He smiled briefly. "But what happened tonight was not an isolated incident. I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman, and it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it." In his head he added, _'It's not like we have another world to go to this time.'_ He sighed. "Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"

"…I'm sure."

"Very well. Thank you for your time, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin stood and walked toward the door. Before exiting, he paused and turned back to look at her. "If you ever need to talk to me, please, don't hesitate to ask…And, as it is nearly midnight now, kindly collect your things so we may leave."

His scroll began buzzing incessantly in his pocket as he closed the door. He pulled it out and pressed 'answer'. "Yes, Miss Goodwitch?"

**"Is RWBY all right?"**

"Yes." His artificial brown eyes flicked to the teenagers waiting impatiently on a bench against the wall. The sound of the interrogation room's door informed him of Blake's emergence. "They are here with me."

**"Good. Oh, and I know that the prestigious headmaster of Beacon has more things to worry about than food, but it's almost done, and if you're not back soon, I'm eating your share."**

"We will return shortly." If he ended the call more hurriedly than usual, no one commented. "We're leaving."

"Finally!" Yang hopped off the bench.

Weiss crossed her arms. "Well, it's about time. Is the driver bringing the car out front?"

The corners of Ozpin's mouth twitched upwards. "No, I'm afraid only headmasters are willing to drive out in the middle of the night to pick up students from the police station."

Ruby stared at the silver-haired man blankly, head tilting to the side. "You drive?"

The resulting facepalm would be heard all the way in Atlas.

**~::~**

**This is way late, I know. I'm sorry!**


	16. Caffeine

"Team CFVY reporting for duty, sir." Coco saluted lazily.

He stared at the Second-Years blankly, blinking slowly. "…What?"

"Professor Goodwitch said you wanted to see us."

"Ah…yes. I would like you four to," there was a brief, almost unnoticeable pause, "be the planning committee for Beacon's upcoming dance." He explained briefly the details of the assignment. "Do you have any questions?"

"What's our budget?" Fox Alistair asked.

Yatsuhashi nudged him in the ribs.

"What? Someone had to ask!"

The corners of Ozpin's mouth twitched upwards. "Your budget is nearly unlimited. All I ask is that you check with either me or Professor Goodwitch before you order anything over $1000. That applies to drinks under budget as well. It is nothing against you; we simply wish to avoid a…incident similar to the one we had a few years ago."

"What incident – ow! What the heck, Yatsuhashi?"

"Hm. I don't think I want to give you any ideas." He smiled. "If you don't wish to plan the dance, please say so."

Coco looked at her teammates. They all nodded. "Leave it to us, Professor Ozpin."

"All right. That is all. Thank you, Coco, Fox, Velvet, Yatsuhashi."

They turned away from his desk. Velvet paused before the elevators closed on her, turning to face him. "Sir, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Velvet." As the team of Second-Years disappeared into the elevator, his smile fell. He rubbed the dark circles under his eyes and scowled.

There was paperwork to do and things to prepare for the exchange students' arrival for the Vytal Festival in a week. If he wanted to get everything done early, as usual, he would have to work well into the night for the next few days.

What a week for Glynda to cut him off from coffee.

A migraine pulsed at his temples as he rested his head on his arms against his desk and closed his eyes. The ever turning gears above his office seemed much louder than usual. The elevator seemed to be emitting a shrill noise which continued to increase in volume. He tensed, body twitching slightly. A request to enter pinged his desk, making him flinch.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Come in."

Glynda walked in, her heels pounding to the beat of his headache. The strong aroma of coffee began to fill the room.

"You made me lie to team CFVY," Ozpin informed her. "Why did you send them to me?"

"We needed to appoint the Beacon Dance Committee, and you asked for them. In hindsight, you may have been asking for the drink." She raised an eyebrow. "What did you tell them?"

"…That they are the dance committee." He rubbed his temples tiredly. "I need coffee – the drink, not the team."

"All right, fine." She sighed dramatically and held out a mug of coffee. "I _will_ break you or your addiction one day, Alexander Ozpin, but I will admit to defeat this time."

His artificial brown eyes were wide as he took the mug gratefully. "Dear Etro, I love you."

"Are you talking to me or the coffee?"


	17. Child's Play

Food flew out the door and onto the pavement as their students fled from the cafeteria. Their screams echoed through the courtyard.

Glynda started towards the building stiffly, anger slowing her pace. He sighed and hurried after her as much as he could.

Through the windows, he could see teams RWBY and JNPR utterly destroying the cafeteria via food war (it was much too dramatic to be an ordinary food fight). She tensed, but Ozpin held her back from charging in, choosing instead to watch the teams continue their game.

When Team JNPR was knocked into the wall and covered in juice, however, the blonde shook off the headmaster's hold and stalked towards the doors, grabbing her riding crop and expanding it. Her hands curled around the weapon, knuckles turning white. The students didn't even notice as she burst in.

The silver-haired man followed with another sigh.

With a wave of her hand, the cafeteria repaired and reassembled itself, the wasted food being thrown into the garbage cans. "Children, _please,_ do not play with your food!"

Yang Xiao Long fell through the ceiling and onto a repaired table. Glynda growled in annoyance.

"Let it go." He put a hand on her shoulder.

She sighed, watching the students laugh at the results of their game. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." _We couldn't afford to play around like this when we were in their position __– __they can't either._

"And they will be," he assured, "but right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part?" He turned and started to walk away. "After all, it isn't a role they'll have forever." _Forcing them to grow up will only hinder them. You and I know that better than anyone._

She heaved another sigh and, after giving the students an extremely shortened "don't do this again" lecture, she ran after the silver-haired man.

If his darkening tone meant what she thought it did (and she was hardly ever wrong), he was about to start brooding which, if it went on for too long, could very well trigger a relapse of his PTSD hallucinations. She really didn't want to have to restart the "360,000 days without a relapse" count again.

That man seemed to enjoy making her anxiety levels skyrocket. He was going to be the death of her.

* * *

**We are now officially in volume 2 territory. Tread with caution if you're not that far in the series.**

**So I got back from band camp and found that volume 3 concepts were released. I then did some digging and found that Vic Mignogna is going to be voicing Qrow. *insert fangirlish screaming here***

**So yeah. That whole band camp thing is why this chapter isn't the...highest quality. **


	18. Introduction

_"__Glynda Goodwitch. Romulus Ironwood. Tatiana Löwe. Alexander Ozpin. Your four will form ARGT. You will be led by Alexander Ozpin."_

~:~

"Are you OCD or something?" Romulus asked monotonously.

Alexander flinched. "I…I guess."

"Dude, look at this!" He gestured to the room that the team had set up per the leader's instructions. Every desk, bed, and picture was at a perfect ninety-degree angle and evenly spaced. The dark-haired boy reached out and moved a framed photo slightly to the right. "Does this bother you?"

The silver-haired boy's lips pressed into a thin line.

"Oh, my gosh. It really bothers you." Tatiana's words, though barely audible, were colored with disbelief.

Glynda rolled her eyes and went to straighten the frame.

"Thanks…" Alexander ducked his head, embarrassed.

"As long as you don't make me try to straighten Romulus' collarbone. I draw the line at ridiculousness." She raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired boy. "Aren't you kind of young to be at this school?"

His face immediately turned bright red. "First of all," he ground out, narrowing his blue eyes into a glare, "my name is James. Don't call me Romulus. _Ever._ Second, I'm eighteen."

The team took in James' short stature and high voice. Silence filled the room. Glynda clapped a hand over her mouth and tried to stifle her laughter.

"This is a great time to get to know everyone," Alexander said quickly. "School we went to, weapon, semblance, anything else we want to add…"

The team gathered on the center two beds – Glynda and Alexander close together on one, James and Tatiana on either end of the other.

"Take it away, fearless leader," the dark-haired boy drawled. His voice cracked on the last syllable.

Tatiana giggled before shrinking under her partner's glare. She tugged on her dark brown braid nervously.

"All right." ARGT's leader shook his bangs out of his eyes. "I went to Bastion Academy. My weapon is Nīlama, which is a sword, and my semblance is illusions…" After a moment of hesitation, he took a deep breath. "I should warn you now, I guess. I have sensory overload disorder. It's gotten better over the years, but I still occasionally have attacks. That's why I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive."

"Then why are you here?" The brunette's eyes widened. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

Next to him, Glynda bristled. The silver-haired boy put a hand on her arm. "Part of it is because I want to overcome my weakness, and being here will…force me to work through it."

"And the other reason?"

"I'm not quite sure anymore." His brown eyes flicked to the girl next to him.

"My turn? Right." She began counting out the topics on her fingers. "Went to Umbra, semblance is telekinesis, my weapon is a riding crop called Liyama. Next."

"Hold on," James interjected. "You forgot the warning. Gotta follow our leader's example after all."

"She has a guilt-complex a mile wide."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Thank you, hypocrite. _Next._"

The room was silent.

"Tatiana?" Alexander turned to look at the brunette.

The quiet girl let out a squeak. "S-sorry! I'm, um…I went to Signal. I have enhanced speed and strength and claws – metal ones, not real."

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not like you're a Faunus, right?"

"R-right!" Realizing how much force she had put into her words, she lowered her gaze, her cheeks turning red. "They're called Mierona. My weapon, I mean."

"I'll just assume you're done then, O Silently Awkward Partner of Mine." James leaned back against the bedpost. "I went to Haven Academy, my semblance is puppet master –"

There was a sharp intake of breath, but no one spoke.

" – and my weapon is a gunblade called Sídero Ankáthi. And I'm pretty normal, so I've got no warnings to speak of."

"Great! We all know each other!" Alexander stood up from his bed. "I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything? Glynda, are you coming?"

She fell face first onto the mattress with a groan. "Give me a minute."

"One. Two –"

"All right, all right!" The blonde rose and smoothed her skirt. "I'm up! This had better be some da –"

"Glynda."

"…Darn good food."

"Thank you." The leader of ARGT pulled his friend out the door, leaving their teammates staring after them in confusion.

"What do you think of them?" Alexander asked immediately in a hushed voice.

"Tatiana's hiding something. They both are, but James is only hiding his self-confidence issues by being a…" Glynda coughed. "He's worse than Snow. It most likely stems from his voice."

Silence fell over the two as they continued toward the kitchens, only to be broken with a snicker from Alexander.

"And they say I'm the cruel one." A smirk tugged on the corner of her lips as her partner nearly doubled over. "All right. What did you think?"

"Same as you." The silver-haired boy's voice was breathy and still full of laughter. "They most likely paired up because there was no one else left. They'll have to learn how to operate as partners and, unfortunately, they'll be the weak links of our team until they do so."

"Right…"The blonde sighed. "And we'll have to figure out how to work with them too, right?"

He nodded. "Also…James is still mad about me being chosen as leader. Quite frankly, so am I."

"Don't be. Of everyone on our team, you're the best fit."

"But I didn't show one leadership skill! Herleif just chose me randomly. If I was headmaster –"

"Ugh, don't worry about it!" Glynda grabbed him around his neck and rubbed his head harshly with her knuckles.

"Ah! C-come on, that hurts!"

"Get over it, you big baby!"

* * *

**This is way overdue. Sorry! We're getting into a section of chapters that aren't already pre-written, so if I'm late posting, that's why.**

**So what did you guys think of team ARGT?**


	19. Insanity

"Come on, Alexander. One time. You make an illusion; we go out on the town and grab a few drinks. Who knows? Maybe…" James raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'd rather not, thanks."

"C'mon, why not?"

Tatiana kept her focus on her dress as she sewed a hole closed. "He just wants you to make his voice sound deeper."

"James, I wouldn't have enough concentration to keep the illusions up, and what would you do then?" Alexander coughed. "Besides, Glynda would kill me."

"Why? It's not like…" The dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you're not –"

"I just don't want him to do something stupid." Glynda rolled her eyes. "Don't be a Bhuni, James."

Tatiana frowned. "A bunny?"

"Oh, you're right; it does sound like bunny…" She tugged on her lower lip with her teeth, looking up in thought. "Velze then?"

"What are you trying to say?"

As soon as the word left Glynda's mouth, she slapped a hand over it. Cautiously, she looked over at Ozpin, then sighed in relief. The silver-haired boy sat on his bed, looking away from the three to the ceiling and hiding a smile with his fist.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I'm…not sure."A sudden mischievous smile spread across the blond woman's face.

"So, Alex," she said as she walked over to his bed, "is James being a dirty, rotten son of a Snow?"

He let out a snort. James and Tatiana looked at the blonde in confusion.

"What in the name of Sazh's afro are you laughing at?"

The leader of ARGT fell backwards onto his bed, silently shaking in laughter. "Please stop."

"Let me think about it…No."

James stared at the two blankly. "What on Remnant are you talking about?"

"Just go with it." The brunette put her needle down with a sigh. "I think our teammates are just insane."

Glynda and Alexander met each other's eyes and shrugged. _Wouldn't surprise me if we were._

_Six millenniums of life _would_ do that to us._

"No, it's worse than that. They're both insane, and they don't even care."

**Still working out the kinks in ****Romulus**** James' personality. Please bare with me.**


	20. Omake

***Disclaimer: these have been made in the name of humor and slight world building. All actions and interests are not canon.**

**1.**

"Whoever designed the dorms so that the stairs are on opposing ends of the hall needs to be shot."

He laughed. "Think of it as a way to monitor the students without having to go out of –" He broke off as they passed the floor's common room.

"Professor Ozpin?"

"Mm?" The silver-haired man turned and entered the room. Teams RWBY and JNPR sat on the couches, eyes fixated on the TV in front of them. On screen, a group of teenagers fought off a strange looking monster.

"Is this the second Persona 3 movie?" Ozpin leaned on the back of the couch, using his arms as support.

"Yeah. _Midsummer's Knight Dream_," Ren answered absently.

"Joy. Subtitles."

The entire room shushed Goodwitch, making her roll her eyes in response. _'It _had_ to be anime. Now I'll never get him out of here.'_

After over an hour, the movie began to near its end.

"I've…seen this before," the headmaster of Beacon said as a brunet boy aimed a spear at an older man's stomach. "Or something similar."

"Considering how many of these you've seen, it wouldn't surprise me."

"Sh!" Ruby swatted upwards at the two teachers. "I'm trying to watch!"

Weiss stared blankly at the TV. "I…have no idea what's going on."

"This kid thinks that man killed his mom, so the kid made a plan to kill…him." Ozpin blinked in realization. "Oh." He slapped a hand to his face. "All right. I'm done."

"What?"

"I'm leaving. Can't look at that kid's face anymore."

"Ozpin –"

"Nope." The silver-haired man left the room with impressive speed.

"What…just happened?" Blake asked as the First-years watched him disappear down the hall.

Nora shrugged. "Must be a headmaster thing."

"He's embarrassed."

The students' attention snapped towards Glynda. "Embarrassed?"

"Mmhm." Her artificial green eyes never left the TV screen. "That kid reminds Professor Ozpin of himself as a boy."

"Ozpin tried to kill someone?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Jaune turned bright red. "I-I mean –"

The blonde woman laughed humorlessly. "You'd be surprised as what we've done." She nodded at the screen. "It turned out much better than that."

As RWBY and JNPR turned their attention back to the movie, Goodwitch took her leave.

_'__Well, it looks like I have some blackmail material for the next time he wants to avoid paperwork…'_

* * *

**2.**

Ironwood walked into Ozpin's office and jolted in surprise. A fourteen-year-old boy with silver hair slouched in the headmaster's chair, eyes locked on his scroll.

"If you're looking for my dad, he's not here." The kid barely looked up.

"Your dad?" James narrowed his eyes. "Are you talking about Ozpin?"

"Sure. The big shot that runs practically everything around here." With a sigh, he finally looked up, revealing bright green eyes. "You my Uncle James?"

The General's eyebrows shot up. "Oz doesn't have any kids."

"Like you would know," the boy scoffed. "You've been in Atlas for what? Nearly thirty years? And you only ever talked business with him? Right, because that _really_ gave him a chance to tell you about me." He got up, closed his scroll, and stuck it in his pocket. "Like I said, Dad's not here, so you might as well leave."

"Who's your mom?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The silver-haired boy entered the elevator, turning and lifting his chin so Ironwood could get a clear look at his face. "What woman has green eyes and the capacity to stand his OCD this long?" A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "See ya, Uncle James. My name's Lucian, by the way."

The General of Atlas was left in Ozpin's office with a stupefied look on his face.

~:~

"You trolled James, didn't you?"

"I didn't want to deal with him today."

"…Do I even want to know what you did?"

"Pretended to be our son."

"What?!"

"I had to think quickly! He would've known I was hiding if I let him in and turned invisible, and I couldn't leave my office if I didn't let him in."

"But what if he asks –"

"Tell the truth, I guess. I'll be down an excuse, but since you suck at lying…"

"Ozpin!"

"What? It's true!"

"Ugh, you're so stupid."


	21. Infiltration

**I was going to post this a few days ago. Oops.**

"You have got to be kidding me." She rubbed her temples tiredly. "I'm going to kill them. Literally. I'm going to take Blazefire and run them through."

He took a sip of his coffee."You'd be arrested for life, which would make our identity cycles hard to explain, the world would be down four great Huntresses and two great Hunters, and Blazefire was lost nearly six millenniums ago."

"They've infiltrated a known terrorist organization," the blonde hissed, being careful to keep her voice low.

"As did we."

All around them stood faunus wearing gray Grimm masks. As Roman Torchwick stood onstage, speaking and showing off the Atlesian Paladin the White Fang had acquired (they'd have to worry about that later), a black-haired girl and blond boy quietly conversed a few feet from Ozpin and Glynda.

"We're experienced –"

"We're old. I'm crippled."

"…Good point," she admitted grudgingly. Her eyes widened in realization, and she turned her attention back to the stage. "Their what?"

"New operation in the southeast. I have a bad feeling about this."

The assumed leader of the White Fang came back on stage. "Will all new recruits please come forward?"

"Time for us to disappear?"

Faunus recruits surged forward.

"Yup."

The two began trying to push their way out of the crowd. After several minutes and less than three inches of distance covered, the lights went out, leaving the building in total darkness. Somebody screamed. Panic set in as the crowd tried to get away from whatever caused the blackout (and Ozpin had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with his student).

"Don't let them get away!"

"Sun! The window!"

"Those two smell like humans!" someone nearby growled.

"Run!" He grabbed Glynda's hand and sprinted forward, shoving anyone in the way aside with a hasty apology. Several different faunus pulled at them, nearly breaking their hold on each other. In fact, had Goodwitch not punched the nearest assailant in the face, they would have been inevitably separated.

When Ozpin finally made contact with cold metal, he scrambled to find the knob and open the door. Once successful, the pair exited as quickly as possible.

A few members of the White Fang pursued them but were easily thrown off by hiding among some trashcans (perhaps the pursuers were chosen a bit too hastily?). As soon as the faunus were out of sight, the professors emerged from their hiding place. Ozpin immediately went to the back door of whatever place they had hidden near, retrieved a key from under a loose brick, and unlocked the door.

"What are you doing?"

"We have only a few minutes before adrenaline wears off and my back starts acting up." He opened the door, only to be met with an elderly man in a red apron.

"Ah!"

"I'm from Koray!" the headmaster of Beacon said hurriedly.

Both the shopkeep and his partner cocked their heads to the side. "…What?"

~:~

The two Beacon professors exited A Simple Wok from the back entrance. Glynda blinked in confusion. "…What just happened?"

"Farran is a member of Koray, which is a spy network I've been running for the last eighty years." Ozpin sighed. "I will apologize later. Right now, I'm more concerned with that girl he saw with Ruby."

"It might not have been Ruby," she said sharply. At his flat look, the blonde slumped in defeat. "You're right. How many girls in Vale wear a red cape?"

"From the other girl's description, it sounds like the girl from the night at the docks…"

"The docks?"

"From when RWBY was taken to the police station," he clarified. "I sent you the video feed that one of my agents took."

"I wondered how you had gotten that. Let me guess. You've gotten Roman Torchwick himself on your side." Her tone was wry, using Snow's method of humor to combat the worry he could see in her eyes.

"Hm. They're a bit further down the command chain but close."

"Maker, is there anywhere you haven't infiltrated?"

"Is there indeed." Ozpin pursed his lips and began silently counting on his fingers the places his spies resided.


	22. The Obligatory Dance Scene

"You did well." He took a sip of coffee, taking the room's decorations.

"Aw, thanks, Professor Ozpin!" Yang beamed. "That unlimited budget really helped make the fog machines happen!"

"Make it last. We can't very well buy a new one for every year you're at Beacon." With a final smile, the silver-haired man headed for the punch bowl.

Glynda already stood there, cup in hand, watching students start to trickle in.

"It _is_ a shame the staff doesn't dress up as well," he commented, coming up beside her. "I'm sure the students would have loved seeing some of the schema you used to wear. Though if you wore something like Mist Wizard or Miquote, I'd have to fire you for indecency." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

She scowled and punched his arm. "Shut up."

Music began to fill the room. A few students headed onto the dance floor. Soon others followed their lead.

The two professors shuddered. "Box-stepping…"

"Remember when they actually forced us to learn how to do that?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." She smirked. "It _is_ a shame your back's acting up. We could have shown them what dancing really looks like."

"And have the rumor mill start again? Perish the thought."

Ironwood came up and tapped Glynda on the shoulder, hand held out in offering. "Might I have this dance?"

The blonde raised her chin in mock pride, but a small grin tugged on the corners of her mouth as she put her hand in his. "I suppose if I must."

As the two walked off, Ozpin's attention was diverted by a young girl with red highlights shouting after Yang Xiao Long. Amusement brought a smile to his face.

"Stupid lady stilts," Ruby muttered, waddling around in her heels.

"Not enjoying yourself?" He came over to stand at her side.

She blinked, but shook her head and laughed. "Oh, no, everything's fine! I'm just not a much of a fancy pantsy…dancey girl."

"Well, you can't spend your whole life on the battlefield, even if you may want to." He smothered his laughter, but his amusement still bled into his voice. '_Just ask Glynda.'_

"Yeah, that lesson's been floating around a lot lately." Her mouth twisted into a frown, and she crossed her arms.

_'__Ah, was that what her and her sister were talking about earlier?' _Ozpin let his gaze drift to the couples on the dance floor. His eyes settled on his former teammates. "If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked, although one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot." As if she could hear his words, Glynda gently stepped on James' foot. In response, he flicked her in the nose.

"Or a twisted ankle." Ruby glanced down at her feet.

"It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this," the headmaster reminded her gently. "Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget."

Memories of the Vytal Festival during his second year at Citadel flooded his mind, but he shook them away. It wasn't the time or place to reminisce.

His eyes swept across the room. Two exchange students had just entered. Yang was at her podium, greeting the newcomers. James was spinning Glynda around in a very successful attempt to make her giggle dizzily. Weiss was attempting to straighten a drooping flower, while Blake, JNPR (minus Pyhrra), and SSSN were scattered around the dance floor.

_'__I've shown up, socialized, imparted words of wisdom__…__Eh, I could get away with leaving now.'_ The silver-haired man made his way towards the side exit. As he crossed the threshold, he disarmed the wire strung across the doorway. "Mr. Montoya."

A thirty-year old man with a mustache reluctantly emerged from his hiding spot just outside the door. "Professor Ozpin."

"That tactic would only have worked if I had been traveling at a high speed where I could not see the wire." He handed it back to his would-be assassin. "Had speed not been an issue, you would have put multiple lives in danger and traumatized the entire student body. In the future, please choose a method that is more courteous to others' lives and sanity." Without another word, Ozpin walked away.

It had been a good day, he decided. He avoided paperwork, dancing, too much socialization, a panic attack, and death. What more could he want?


	23. War Room

Ironwood's frown was deep, his eyes narrowed in thought and suspicion. "Even after her testimony, it's hard to believe that that girl – Ruby, was it? – had nothing to do with the break in."

"Does she really seem like the criminal type, James?" Ozpin rested his forehead against his hands, propping himself up against his desk with his elbows. Already he could feel the beginnings of a migraine.

"She could be putting on a façade. It wouldn't be the first time we've been betrayed by a student."

Glynda stiffened and crossed her arms. "She hasn't betrayed us. Had it been one of yours –"

"I would be just as suspicious." Atlas' General's eyes flicked to the side. "Regardless of the girl's guilt, the fact remains that our security was breached and they – were – here."

The headmaster of Beacon said nothing, gaze distant.

"Ozpin, they were here!" James pounded on the desk to emphasize his point, making the silver-haired man flinch almost imperceptibly.

He focused in on himself, trying to drown out the two's biting exchange. His eye twitched slightly. _'I'd almost rather be possessed by Bhunivelze again. This is getting ridiculous.'_

Only the access request saved Ironwood from certain death via Goodwitch's riding crop and Ozpin from having to intervene.

The silver-haired man straightened. "Come in." Ruby walked in with a certain amount of hesitancy. Her apology and excuse for her supposed lateness nearly made him smile. "Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't O-for-three." When no one even cracked a smile, the First-Year seemed to shrink into herself. "Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it."

Ironwood stepped forward and put an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night exactly what being a Huntress is all about."

As the general continued to speak, Ozpin's eyes narrowed. _'What game are you playing, Ironwood?'_ It seemed James had changed more than he originally thought. "Now, the General here has already informed us of the events that…transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add." He fell silent as his former teammates questioned his student.

He was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this.

"You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asked.

"It's possible, but we still lack the required evidence to link the two together." _It's highly likely – why else would Roman team up with the White Fang?_

The dark-haired girl looked off to the side. "Actually, I think I remember her saying something about a hideout, or something, in the southeast." She met their eyes again. "Just outside the Kingdom."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Interesting."

Glynda frowned. "I thought you said the intruder never –"

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ruby," Ozpin interrupted, putting a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you."

Ruby relaxed as she turned away from the adults. "Anytime." She practically skipped towards the elevator.

"And Miss Rose, please try and be…discreet about this matter."

"Yes, sir!" She disappeared behind closing doors.

As soon as the girl was out of sight, Ironwood looked at Ozpin with raised eyebrows.

"We're already aware of how Miss Rose acquired that information, and I can assure you that she is not a spy." Only millenniums of experience kept the silver-haired man from rolling his eyes as James walked over to the window.

"Well, then there we have it. We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what's going on, and eradicate any forces that stand in our way."

Glynda growled in frustration. "Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado?! You treat _every_ situation like a contest of measuring di –"

"Glynda!" Despite his best effort, he couldn't quite keep the amusement out of his voice – trust her to take the words right out of his mouth.

The blonde paused as if trying to recall what she'd said. "…Well, he does."

"She is right, however," he turned his chair so that he faced the two of them. "And, as much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale – beyond Beacon. If this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold, nor can we risk the spread of panic."

Ironwood narrowed his eyes, body tensing. "I have served you faithfully for years…but if you mean to tell me that your plan is to hold the defenses and wait –!"

"It is _not!_" Ozpin stood, temper flaring. He took a deep breath. "You're a general, James." _And don't forget, so was I._ "So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag bearers or the scouts?" _Please. Recognize the position we're in – we can't make the same mistakes previous generations have. We can't afford another war._

"Tch." James turned away and stalked towards the elevator.

Only once he was gone did Ozpin allow his fatigue to show. He sat down and put his head in his hands. "Do you remember when all of ARGT hold entire conversations without saying a word?"

"Yeah." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Those were the days."


	24. Reflections

**I have no excuses. Also, as a fair warning, I was trying out a new writing style-tell me what'cha think. In other news, RWBY volume 3 was announced to premiere October 25th for the public. :D**

**~:~**

Once, there was a man and a woman. By some perverse cycle of rebirth, they had seen the destruction of one world, the creation of another, the rise and fall of civilization, the emergence of Grimm, and a war that involved the entire world. Against all odds, the had stayed together throughout the millenniums.

And then their luck ran out.

Unresolved conflicts rose up, and the kingdom's foolish leaders, who had learned nothing from the first war, ignited yet another war. By some divine prank, the man and woman found themselves trapped on opposing sides of the war. Both were drafted into their respective military. Both were forced to take countless lives. Both prayed fervently that they would not be forced to fight each other.

Centuries passed, and, after withdrawing from the world and its violence, the man watched as each country attempted to take full control of their citizens in a final attempt to win. He had laughed mirthlessly at that-even a two-year-old would have been able to tell that taking away creative freedom would ignite the flames of rebellion.

And ignite they did. The kingdoms' violation of rights was the spark that lit centuries of fuel, forcing the citizens to put aside their national differences and unite into a single rebellion. They quickly toppled the governments and established a new order.

And years later, on the anniversary of that day, the woman stood on stage in front of hundreds of students from every kingdom. She had taken a new name and appearance, so, despite the things she accomplished for Mistral's army and its branch of the rebellion, the audience only knew her as a teacher. That was perfectly fine with her.

"Quiet!" she called. "Quiet, please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Stepping to the side, she met his eyes. Only through the lens of a millenniums-long relationship could she see his nervousness (he never was good in front of large crowds) and some bittersweet expression that she knew but had yet to name.

She smiled in understanding. It had been eighty years since the end of the War, yet they had only been reunited for the past thirty-eight. That was over three-hundred-and-fifty unbearable years of separation that weighed heavily on their hearts, darkening the day of celebration.

The corners of the man's mouth quirked upwards as the woman lightly elbowed his arm as she passed by him. To the audience, it seemed to simply be an accidental brush, but to him the hidden words of encouragement were clear.

As he stepped closer to the microphone (an old-fashioned thing, really; he was amazed at how primitive the world's technology was when compared to what he had had growing up), he took a deep breath and began to speak. "Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end…"


	25. Bend, Break

**Room 102, Dorm: Ohm, Beacon Academy, Vale**

Thanatos Fabre burst into the room, breathing heavily. His hand clutched a small camcorder. The dark feathers on his wings were ruffled.

Leone Neri looked up. "Dude, where were you? You almost missed curfew."

Thanatos shook his head, his dreadlocks flying around him. He held out the camcorder. "You have to see this."His team gathered around him as the raven faunus fiddled with the camera, pulling up a video.

~:~

The image shakes as the unseen cameraman gets into position against a dark wall. Two blurs-one green, one white-flash across the screen as the camera moves. The blurs settle into Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. The cameraman creeps forward, and moves so that both of their faces are clearly visible. The camera zooms in.

Goodwitch stands stiffly, her arms crossed. "...can't just send them on a restricted mission!" she hisses. "You're going to get them killed!"

Ozpin says nothing, simply typing a message on his scroll.

"Professor Ozpin!"

"They will be fine." His tone and stance are relaxed, but there is a glint of annoyance in his eyes as he finally looks up at her.

"Had it been any team other than RWBY-"

"Had the team not been RWBY, I would not have allowed them to go, no. But-"

"Stop. Just stop. You're letting favoritism affect your judgment!"

General Ironwood materializes next to Goodwitch. "What's wrong?"

"He let a First-Year team take a mission the Southeast quadrant." The blonde professor glares daggers at her boss.

The General's frown deepens. "We agreed to restrict those missions, Oz."

Professor Ozpin visibly tenses, his jaw set. "We did."

"The Council isn't going to like this."

"The Council doesn't have to know."

The camera jolts. By the time it's brought back into focus, Ozpin has raised his chin slightly, as if in defiance. "The team I allowed on the mission is made up of my students. It is ultimately my decision. If the Council tries to veto it, I will ignore them."

Ironwood's eyes widen, but Goodwitch simply growls in frustration. "Would you let go of your stupid pride and listen to us?"

"What is there to listen to?" His body is unusually taut with anger. Then, as suddenly as he had tensed, he relaxes and smiles pleasantly. Words begin to come out of his mouth, but they seem to be gibberish. No mere mortal, it seems, will ever be able to understand the harsh, rapid language Ozpin is speaking.

But Goodwitch is no mere mortal. Her understanding is clear as her eyes widen in disbelief. Her hands tighten into fists, knuckles turning white. A dark red color blooms on her cheeks and spreads to her neck. She seems frozen in shock.

Then she lunges forward, a cry of rage tearing from her lips.

Ironwood tackles her before she can reach Ozpin, almost taking them both to the ground but allowing the silver-haired man to stroll away.

"Kaókte taákak teékré tró Í kaákn kítk æóú!" the professor snarls, struggling to get away from him. "Teóti!"

"Glynda, you can't just attack him! We're not students anymore! You have to keep professional!" The dark-haired general pauses. "What on Remnant were you two saying?"

Goodwitch tears away from his grip but doesn't chase after Ozpin. She straightens her clothes and turns back to him. "That's none of your business, James." She stalks away.

"Glynda." Ironwood follows after with a sigh until he is out of the camera's sight. "Glynda!"

~:~

The room was silent.

"What the flip was that?" Echo Sunden screeched, her aura flaring. The rest of her team winced.

"Easy on the semblance, Echo," Indigo Montoya said. His hands had flinched toward his head. "Some of us have sensitive ears, remember?"

"Sorry," she muttered.

The man smiled reassuringly. "I do have to agree with you, though. That was...strange."

"It explains their behavior at dinner," offered Leone.

Indigo frowned. "What behavior?"

The rest of team NITE groaned. "You didn't notice that they sat at opposite ends of their table?"

"Briefly." He shrugged. "Why?"

"You know, for someone who's trying to assassinate Ozpin, you don't pay much attention to him, do you?"

Red colored his cheeks. "I've spent the last fifteen years balancing a normal life and swordsmanship training, and trying to just find the man. I didn't exactly get a chance to go to those fancy training academies you went to. And anyway, I don't see what the big deal is."

"Ozpin and Goodwitch always sit near each other," Echo explained. "For them to suddenly change means that something happened between them."

"Yeah, but-"

"I have another video."

Everyone's eyes snapped toward Thanatos. He shrugged. "Why do you think I was late?"

~:~

The screen is black. A fight can be heard over the rustling made as the camera is set up. Finally, light floods the screen as the camera lens is pulled off.

Once in focus, the source is no less confusing.

Firstly, Professor Ozpin is fighting. Secondly, he is fighting an unfamiliar woman who is using some complex looking sword. Thirdly, he is speaking in that strange, harsh language again.

Their weapons clash. The woman is forced back. She slides her foot back to regain balance and then launches herself forward again. "Tékté!"

The sword dance resumes as they switch between offense and defense, both physically and verbally.

The woman sweeps her leg under Ozpin's, knocking him to the ground. She flips her braid over her shoulder and brushes hair out of green eyes.

_(In the dorm, ¾ of NITE freeze in shock. How did they not recognize Professor Goodwitch?)_

"You're going to get them killed." She stands over her boss. Her shoulders tremble faintly. "I can't watch you break again."

Ozpin grunts in pain. "Glynda, my back-"

"Oh, _Grimm_! I'm so sorry!" Goodwitch holds out her hand.

He takes it and then pulls her down to the floor beside him. She shrieks. A strange word slips from her mouth. There is a snort of laughter, but the room is soon silent again.

"I won't break," Ozpin says suddenly.

"You can't promise me that."

"No, but I know what I'm doing. You know that RWBY would have ended up in the Southeast quadrant regardless of what we did. That is why I allowed them to take the mission-or rather, I signed them up for a similar mission."

The blonde sits up and looks at him. "What?"

"I intentionally put them on the mission with Oobleck. He will keep a close eye on them. I also asked that he question their motive to be Huntresses." He sits up and winces.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier? It would have saved us an entire half hour." She narrows her eyes into a glare. "You completely deserve every bit of pain you'll feel tomorrow."

Ozpin gives a sort of half laugh. The room falls silent.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

The headmaster shrugs. "You've always had trust issues. I've known that for years."

"But not with you. I've always trusted you."

"Well-"

"Doesn't count."

"What about-"

"I hardly knew you then."

"But-"

"Shut up and accept my apology."

~:~

"...Well, I owe Ginger ten lien now."

"We are never going to hear the end of this."

"Who says anyone else has to know?"

Everyone looked at Indigo. "What?"

"The first video could get everyone in a lot of trouble-not just us, but Goodwitch and Ozpin too." The man shrugged. "I saw it all the time back home. Someone sees evidence of less-than-stellar behavior from a higher up and uses it against them. The second video seems...private."

Leone nodded. "He's right. It's really none of our business. We should probably actually delete both of them."

Thanatos bristled. "I don't delete anything."

"I know, but I'm asking you to make an exception."

For few seconds, Thanatos didn't move. Then he looked down and fiddling with his camera. "There," he said looking up, "it's gone."

"That's good. I don't want to get fired after all."

NITE's heads whipped toward the door.

Professor Ozpin stood in the doorway, an amused smile on his face. "I'm glad you made it back to your room in time, Thanatos. It wouldn't do for you to miss curfew." He began to turn away. "And please keep from spying on people. It's terribly rude."

A shudder passed through the entire team. "Why do I feel like we just escaped certain death?"

"Because we did. There's a reason the faunus fear him so much."

* * *

**So...I pretty much had my friend create an entire language for this chapter. It's officially called Linish (after the one who made it), but for now, it's whatever language they spoke on Cocoon/Nova Chrysalia (currently called Cocoonian).**


	26. Superstition

He was _not_ a morning person.

No one would be surprised about this fact as he was known to work very late into the night. However, no one but those on the professors' level of Ohm knew that it was Glynda that had to get him up in the morning. Even more surprising-unusual really-was their monthly ritual.

He groaned as a knock came from the door, pulling over his head.

"Rabbit, rabbit," she called, opening the door.

"Rabbit, rabbit," the silver-haired man mumbled back.

"Get up."

Incoherent mumbling was her only answer.

With a roll of her eyes, the blonde yanked back his covers and pulled him out of bed. He fell onto the long pillow on the floor next to his bed.

"If you don't get up right now, I will force you to wear the ears. All. day."

His eyes shot open. "I'm up!"

"Five minutes. Hurry up."

~:~

"Rabbit, rabbit." Glynda shook her sleeping leader.

"Rabbit, rabbit," he murmured back. "Five more minutes."

"Alexander!"

Tatiana frowned. "Rabbit, rabbit? Is that some kind of joke?"

"No." The silver-haired boy sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You say it on the first day of the month. It's supposed to bring you good luck."

"I've never heard of that."

"Never took you as superstitious, Oz." James grinned. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

Alexander Ozpin pulled his clothes out from underneath his bed and began undressing. "My mother told me about it, and yes, James, I do believe it. There was a period of time when I didn't say that at the beginning of the month. Those were the worst years of my life." He threw on his jacket and adjusted his tie. "We have ten minutes until class starts. Let's go."

An hour later, two notes made their way to his desk. The first made him scowl and shoot a murderous look at James. The second…

_**The "rabbit, rabbit" thing gave me an idea. I'm gonna make you a set of bunny ears. You're welcome.**_

_**-Tatiana**_

* * *

**This was a really early written chapter, which is why it's so short. Other than a few minor changes, I didn't feel the need to mess with anything.**


	27. Secrets

"Trouble sleeping?"

James looked back at her. His hand gripped where his prosthetic connected to his shoulder. "Arm was acting up."

"Right. So, logically, you got out of bed, dressed yourself completely, and decided to gaze menacingly out into the distance." She rolled her eyes. "What's wrong? Mom and Dad's fight bothering you?"

The corners of his mouth quirked upward. "I will never understand why you refer to yourselves as Mom and Dad."

"Habit we picked up from an old friend. Now stop avoiding the subject."

For a moment, James said nothing. Finally, he sighed. "I've trusted him for years—we both have. I just...I can't help but feel like he's keeping us in the dark."

"Don't be ridiculous. You know very well that _we_ are not the ones in the dark." Guilt burned in her gut. After her fight with Ozpin, she had gone into full rant mode. James had listened to her for a while and then casually suggested reporting what had happened to the Council. Had she been in her right mind, she would have immediately talked him out of it.

But she didn't.

"That makes it _worse_!" Ironwood said, laughing humorlessly. "I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so...passively."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest. It's admirable, but it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it." Like she was one to talk. "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something we both should remember."

Her own words echoed in her ears. It hurt to remember that fact, reminding her that she had allowed him to bear the weight of the world for nearly a millennium by himself.

"We all went to the same school, Glynda—experienced the same ward." He turned to her, eyes flashing. "Where does this 'additional experience' come from?"

'_Crap.'_ She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. '_What do I tell him? I can't like, but I can't tell him the truth...though he would be the best person to tell…'_ Glynda opened her eyes.

Ironwood stared at her, his expression unreadable. The ice in his eyes almost surprised her—almost.

The blonde forced a smile. "You should have Ozpin look at your arm if it's acting up. He was the one who made it after all."

"Answer my question."

"Good night, Romulus." She turned on her heel and walked away from the stranger wearing her friend's face.

Because James Ironwood was not the same person as Romulus James Ironwood— not anymore.

* * *

**:D Potential plot perhaps?**


	28. Breach

Contrary to popular opinion, the alarms didn't wake her up—it was the quiet. Most mornings were filled with a bustle of activity outside her door, but because Oobleck was gone on a mission and Kim Jun Hwan was on personal leave, the professors' level of Ohm was silent.

If there was one thing Goodwitch couldn't stand, it was complete silence.

With sleep miles away and Ozpin scheduled to sleep for another four hours, she had decided to sketch for a bit before going back to bed.

She had just finished Odin's basic shape when the alarms began to blare.

Her hand jolted, creating a jagged line across the paper. '_What on Remnant?'_

"Glynda!" Ayaka Peach pounded on her door. "Vale is being attacked!"

She sighed and began throwing on her clothes. "Get Port and any remaining teams in the area. Tell them to get their weapons and meet me in the courtyard. And for the love of Grimm, Peach, stop freaking out!"

Only years of experience kept her from getting tangled in pantyhose, tearing her skirt, or putting her blouse on backwards. The Ohm dorm was...infamous for its accidents. That meant, of course, getting up in the middle of the night to evacuate the building or clean up the mess, etcetera, and as 9 out of 10 times, it wasn't an emergency, she still had to adhere to the staff dress code.

She really hated the other teachers sometimes.

"Oi," Glynda pounded on Ozpin's door, "Vale's being attacked. Get up."

No response.

With a sigh, the blonde walked away. There wasn't enough time to deal with his crap.

~:~

"The largest Grimm attack in the history of Vale, and you left three professors, two and a half First-Year teams, a Second-Year team, and Ironwood's android army to take care of it." She blew a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. "You should have helped."

"Right. Make the crippled man go out and fight."

Glynda rolled her eyes. "You've been using that excuse all semester." She pitched her voice in imitation of him, "'We can't spar today, my injury's acting up. Another flare; can't do paperwork.' For the love of Grimm, Alexander! Enough with the excuses." Her eyes fell on the call alert on his desk. "Are you going to answer that?"

The silver-haired man smiled thinly. "You're right, of course. I apologize for leaving you to fight hoards of Grimm by yourself in the early hours of the morning. Please, go back to bed. I'm sure you need it. I'll take care of everything."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, of course. We just have a lot of preparation left before the tournament. The arena will arrive any day now."

"Then let me help. I'll be fine."

Ozpin shook his head. "No, you need your rest."

"I can rest later. We keep those pillows in the ceiling for a reason." She rolled her eyes. "Please."

"I need to be alone, all right?"

"...All right. If that's what you want." She inclined her head and then turned away.

"Glynda— "

"No, it's fine. I'll be back in a few hours."

Ozpin sighed and covered his face with his hands. The call alert began sounding again. A groan escaped him, but he had no choice to answer"Yes, councilman?"

"Ozpin! This is the fifth time I've called you!"


	29. Dependent

She walked in with a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"Glynda, what did you do?"

"Here are the teachers' reports you wanted." She set a thin stack of papers on his desk.

"Thank you." He turned away to look at his scroll, then paused, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "Glynda!"

The blond woman had already disappeared from the room.

Ozpin sighed and started after her.

As he made his way through the school grounds, students began to swarm around.

"I am aware of the situation and am working toward a solution." The Headmaster of Beacon straightened to his full height, becoming an impressive figure towering over the students. His glasses glinted and obscured his eyes. "And if you see Miss Goodwitch, tell her I must speak with her."

~:~

None of the students in Goodwitch's combat strategy class knew what to do when an orange and yellow boomerang flew from the doorway straight towards the professor.

It was stopped and left suspended with a wave of the blonde's hand. "Do you need something, Professor Ozpin?" she asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Airwing, please." The sunlight shone brightly in the doorway, causing him to appear as a silhouette.

She snatched the weapon out of the air, nearly dropping it as electricity rippled over its surface. A scowl marred her face.

Ozpin made his way down the stairs with a smile. "Now you know how the rest of Beacon feels."

"Professor Ozpin?" a winged boy named Thanatos Fabre asked. "Was that your semblance?"

The silver-haired man glanced at Glynda. She rolled her eyes and handed him the weapon. "Go ahead."

"No," he said, turning to face the students, "it is not, nor is it enchanted with dust. It's simply enhanced with technology. You'll learn how to do so as Second-Years."

"Why? We can just use dust."

"Dust runs out, and supplies get cut off. Which brings me to my original purpose of coming here." He crossed his arms and turned to look at Glynda, narrowing his eyes into a glare. "You turned off the Wi-Fi."

The students gasped.

"You'll survive."

"I have work to do."

She mimicked his position. A slow smile spread across her face. "Use a piece of paper and a pencil like the ancients did. Your robots will end up the same."

"Robots." He bit back a smile of his own and glanced at the clock. "Shall we settle this the old-fashioned way, then?"

"The old old-fashioned way?" She glanced up at the rows of teenagers above them. "I think that would be unfair to the students."

"Then you have until lunch to restore the Wi-Fi." He smiled amiably. "I apologize for the interruption." Without another word, he made his way up the stairs, his cane tapping against the wooden steps.

Glynda watched him leave and sighed. "This school is much too dependent on technology. Honestly, even the headmaster… " She sighed. "Well, we have time for one more match. Mr. Lie, please choose a sparring partner."

The dark-haired boy made his way to the bottom of the amphitheater. "Professor Goodwitch?" he asked carefully. "What did you and the headmaster mean by settling things the old-fashioned way?"

"…Let's just say you should all prepare yourselves for lunch time. I would advise that you not allow any skin to be exposed."


	30. War

He burst into the cafeteria, goggles on his head, his usual spectacles gone. He had forgone his usual jacket and vest, leaving him in a black button-down shirt. What seemed to be two automatic rifles were slung over his back, along with a ton of ammunition cases.

She stood up from the teachers' dining table, dressed in loose, casual clothes. "So you finally came."

"As promised." The silver-haired man took a gun off of his back. "Do you still deny my request?"

The blonde pulled a machine gun out from under the table and slung a sniper rifle over her shoulder.

"As you wish. Children, it would be wise to get out of the way."

The students immediately dove to the ground, taking cover underneath the tables.

"This is war, children," she advised. "Please take better cover than that." As they obeyed and began setting up defenses against the walls using tables and chairs, Glynda adjusted her glasses. "This should be interesting."

Ozpin grinned. "No holding back."

The resulting battle would go down as the bloodiest paintball war in Beacon's history. Neither student nor teacher was spared from the carnage.

General James Ironwood burst through the doors. "Ozpin, why –"A line of bright pink paint splattered across his chest.

"James! Don't just stand there!" Ozpin pulled Ironwood down behind a fallen table and handed him a gun. Pink paint was splattered all over his clothes and hair. His goggles covered his eyes, and his scarf hid the lower half of his face. He pulled both off.

"What in Grimm's name is going on here?! I've been trying to reach you for the past half hour, and you're playing?" Red began to spread from his cheeks to his neck, veins bulging. "Where's Glynda?"

"This is no game." The silver-haired man peeked around the edge of the table, recoiling as a paintball nearly bruised his face. "The students are depending on us to restore Wi-Fi to the school. As for Glynda…" He pointed up at the rafters on the other side of the room to where the blonde was perched with a sniper rifle. "She is the one we're fighting."

"We?"

"She has Port and Oobleck on her side. I don't believe she will protest too much." He put his goggles and bandana back on. "If you would like me to get any work done this week, you'll help."

"I've got your six," the General promised. "What's the plan? A full-scale attack? How do you win?"

"We have to capture the other team by shooting them in the chest. If we get hit here," he held up his left wrist (the only area of his body that remained paint-free), "then we get captured. Neither team can free POWs, nor are students not allowed to be involved."

"Rather slim odds for us then." James smiled sardonically. "And you only have two guns?"

"It was all I could manage with two hours of preparation. Now focus, James." Without another word, Ozpin re-entered No Man's land, somehow disappearing from view.


	31. Peace

The cafeteria was completely and utterly destroyed. Professors Port and Oobleck sat alongside their students behind a table fortress, bright green paint adorning their chests. Ironwood sat on the opposite side of the room covered from head to toe in pink paint.

Ozpin stood in the center of the room, shooting at the rafters. "We're always the last ones left."

Glynda grinned. "You're going down!" She swung down, hanging from a rafter by her legs and brought her gun's scope to her eyes. Her glasses slid down her forehead, off her face, and down to the floor, shattering.

He narrowed his eyes, positioning his gun at her chest. Before he could even think about pulling the trigger, however, a bright pink splatter appeared on his left wrist.

"Nooooooooo!" A pink and green covered Yang Xiao Long collapsed onto her sister's shoulder, sobbing. "My K-dramas! Gone! All gone!"

The silver-haired man shot a pointed look at Goodwitch.

_I regret nothing. _She twisted around so that was right side up and created a stairway made of tables. As she descended from the rafters, the room slowly reassembled and cleaned itself up. Her glasses raised themselves from the floor and mended before flying into her hand. She put them on. "I believe that makes forty-three to forty-two, in my favor. In addition to control over the Wi-Fi, I would like the usual payment."

"As you wish." He removed his goggles and looked around the cafeteria. The students, professors, and Ironwood still sat on the floor: now clean of paint, but looking slightly traumatized. "Let's go."

"Now?"

"Yes, before we have an angry mob on our hands."

…

"Why do you always insist on ordering the most expensive thing here?"

She smiled, laughter in her eyes, and brought her cup to her mouth. "Are you mad because it's expensive or mad because I'm taunting you while you're on coffee ban?"

He grunted, turning away with a scowl. "You're a cruel woman, Glynda."

"And you're getting older. All that coffee is terrible for your body – the last thing I need is for you to die from high blood pressure!"

"I don't think –" At her look, the silver-haired man fell silent, choosing to take a sip of his tea instead. He grimaced.

The blonde smothered a laugh, and a comfortable silence settled over the two.

"This is nice," she said after a while. "It's been a long time since we've done this."

"Not since before the War." Ozpin hummed in contentment and took another sip of his tea. "Right before the assassination."

"Right before we were separated." Goodwitch turned her head toward the window, her gaze becoming distant. "Now we're reunited and experiencing an incredible time of peace, yet…"

"Yet it seems like it shall end soon." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Must we always get involved in conflicts?"

"They seem to follow us," she agreed. "But let's not worry about that now. Let's just be two average people with average lifespans drinking at an average café."

"Well, all right." He grinned boyishly. "So what do average people do at an average café?"

"They catch up, I suppose. You never did tell me what you did while we were separated."

"Neither did you."

"You first."

"Well…"

Just beyond the café window, a crowd of Beacon Academy students ran through the streets, calling for their missing professors.

Neither of said professors would notice for hours.


	32. Divine Intervention

**Dedicated to Kyle: You will likely never read this, nor ever find yourself on fanfiction. net, but I _did_ sort of bug you incessantly throughout writing this. (He's also my tech consultant. The entire "nerd rant" in Recognition came from him.)**

"All right, who would like to spar next?" Goodwitch scanned the room, searching for volunteers or potential victims. "Mr. Lie, you've been rather quiet today. Why don't you pick a sparring partner?"

Ren descended the stairs to the arena.

"And who will you fight?"

He shrugged.

These kids were going to be the death of her. "Right. Miss Rose, please come down."

The young girl appeared on the other side of the arena in a flurry of scarlet petals. She grinned widely. They each readied their weapons, sliding into a ready stance, muscles tensing.

"Stop!"

The two froze.

Goodwitch stalked over to Lie Ren. "If you're not going to take this seriously, then you won't do this at all. Please see me after class."

The room was silent as the dark-haired boy walked back to his seat. His expression remained blank, as it had the entire class period.

"Ruby, if you would please pick another partner…"

~:~

She crossed her arms and leaned against a student desk. "Your behavior today has been unacceptable. You refused to pay the slightest bit of attention during class— do not try to lie; I know that glazed look— or even attempt to try when called to spar." Her stance suddenly softened. "What's wrong, Ren?"

"...Nothing." His voice was soft and whispery— like a ghost; barely there. His eyes focused down at the floor. It reminded her of...well, it reminded her of Ozpin during his more severe relapses.

She suppressed a shudder and focused back on the matter at hand. "Ren, you let your form be sloppy. It's _never_ sloppy. And this is the first time you've spoken since you entered my classroom. What is wrong?"

Silence.

"Is it your parents?"

He flinched.

"Ren, talk to me."

"Why?"

"It will help."

"Says who? Psychiatrists? Right, because they know _so_ much."

"I'm not even going to get into that right now. You're avoiding the subject."

He took a deep breath. "I am not." His spine was rigid. Emotions stormed behind his eyes.

"Ren."

The dark-haired boy stared silently at her as if issuing a challenge.

'_I had hoped to stop playing these kinds of games. Fine. If that's what you want.'_

She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. For a long time, neither said anything. Ren's eyes drifted to the floor again.

"A perfect student would not be so lazy as to allow their mind to wander and their form to fall apart." The professor's eyes became as cold and hard as ice, her voice steel.

The boy's body twitched.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Stop."

"I had such high hopes for you. You've disappointed me, the headmaster— "

"_Don't_."

"— not to mention your _parents_— "

"_Shut up!_" His head snapped up to look at her, eyes blazing. "My parents are dead! You know that! So don't _ever_ use them as a weakness to exploit! You want me to talk? Join the club. That's all anyone's ever tried to do. _But why should I?_ They don't understand. They didn't lose their parents when they were eight. They don't know what it's like to grow up in an orphanage, to live in the shadow of a great Huntsman and Huntress. They don't— " His face crumpled. He slammed his fist into a desk with, swearing loudly. The desk's surface cracked. "_What makes you different from them?_"

Glynda barely blinked. She tilted her head to one side, simply looking at him. Her gaze was unreadable— calculating, but no longer cold, as if she was deciding her next move. "Nobody understands, huh? What about Nora?"

"She was too young when her parents died. She doesn't remember them like I remember mine."

"Tell me about them."

Some of the fire in Ren's eyes died. "What?"

"Your parents. Tell me about them."

"Why? What difference does it make? You knew them."

"..." The professor pushed herself up so that she was sitting on top of the desk. "My mother died when I was fourteen, so I know what it's like to lose someone. I also know what happens when you bottle everything up, push people away, and never talk about the ones you lost at all. Let's avoid that bitter end, shall we? So tell me about them."

Ren sighed. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope."

So the dark-haired boy began to paint a picture of his parents. He began slowly and unsurely, his words gradually accelerating as memories surged forth. Finally, he stepped back from his canvas. The product was incomplete— some areas were still sketches, others were blurry, some remained blank— but the idea remained the same: Lie Lin and Ran were warm and familiar at home, calm, quiet, and formal in public, and held their son to a high but not unreasonable standard.

"Are you satisfied now?" At some point, Ren had settled down on the floor. He lifted his head to look at his professor.

She realized with a start that he was crying.

"Almost." Impulsively, Glynda reached out and poked him in the forehead. "I don't understand what made today different."

"I never said it was."

"You didn't have to. Your behavior spoke volumes." She crossed her arms. "Ren, you've trusted me with this much. What's a little more going to hurt?"

"...Nora and I got into a fight last night."

The blonde frowned. "Huh?"

"She...I told her I feel responsible for my parents deaths, and she got mad."

"Ren…"

"I know, I know. 'It's not your fault. There was nothing you could of done. It's not your fault you were attacked by a Creep and your parents had to fight it off, sustained severe injuries, and eventually died.'"

"Good. I don't have to say as much." Goodwitch took off her glasses. "Your parents knew the risk of their job and they were skilled enough that fighting Grimm and watching you at the same time was simple. The problem was that they underestimated the strength of the Grimm in the area their mission was. That was entirely our fault— we should have verified the source and its information. Had we had the correct information, the mission would not have existed. It would have taken an entire legion of Huntsmen and Huntresses to take the Creep down. It is _not_ your fault, do you hear me?"

The dark-haired boy frowned. "But— "

"_Do you hear me?_"

"Y-yes, ma'am." He could feel his heart trying to commit seppuku from sheer terror.

"Good." She at last released him from her stern glare and smiled. "And for the love of Grimm, you don't have act so serious just because your parents did! And don't tell me that you're not putting on an act because, if the last hour has said anything, you're the most sarcastic piece of shi...znits. Shiznits. Right. School. Ozpin. Blah."

A smile tugged at the corners of Ren's mouth.

"Hey. None of your secrets are leaving this room, so I expect the same." She smiled back. "Now get out of here. There's a little redhead who's worried out of her mind waiting outside that door."

"Yes, ma'am." The dark-haired boy turned and started up the stairs, then stopped. "Professor Goodwitch? How did you— "

"Know something was wrong? Well...there was a boy on my team who dealt with things in a very similar manner. I suppose I just learned the signs."

He nodded— was that a _grin? _— and ascended the stairs again, slowing as he neared the top. When he reached the door, he paused, as if steeling himself, and opened it quickly.

As soon as Ren made it out the door, he was tackled by his partner.

* * *

**I just felt that Ren's newfound sarcasm came from some off-screen character development. So...I wrote it:D Not quite satisfied with the ending, but...it'll have to do.**


	33. Vytality

**I tried.:) Very late, I know. Is this a bad time to tell you I'm going to go on a two-week (or so) hiatus to catch up with the chapters and *ahem* _recover_ from the episode two weeks ago? **

**These are two drabbles, by the way. They were separate chapters, but I decided this was probably better.**

**1.**

James paced ARGT's dorm room, tugging on his collar. "What on Remnant is taking them so long? They've been in the bathroom for nearly an hour!"

Alexander shrugged. "It's the Atlas dance, and most girls take forever to get ready. Even though Glynda and Tatiana probably don't take as long, they also have to wait for the other girls to get done. Probably." He looked up from his work. "Bored?"

"The sooner we go, the sooner we can leave, and the sooner I can get out of this monkey suit." The dark-haired boy scowled. "How can you stand this?"

"I'm used to it. Now, would you stop pacing? You're driving me insane."

The door opened, and Glynda strode in, dragging in a reluctant Tatiana. James' jaw dropped.

"What?" The blonde grinned. "Are we so beautiful you have no words left?"

A smile tugged on Alexander's lips. "You look nice."

She crossed her arms. "That's all you have to say?"

The leader of ARGT rolled his eyes. "You look fabulous, darling," he drawled. "Simply fabulous."

Tatiana giggled nervously. "I told you it would look weird."

"You look fi— wait, did you mean mine?" She turned to James. "Be honest. How do I look?"

"Glynda, your accent is terrible."

"Shut up, Alexander. James?"

"...Your hair is pink," he managed. "Why is it pink?"

"It's called 'dye', my good fellow. It's what you use to change the color of—"

"No, I mean why is your hair pink?!"

Alexander snickered.

"Shut up. It's for Tatiana. Speaking of which..." The blonde pulled her teammate forward. "Doesn't this look awesome?"

Tatiana's brown hair was streaked with teal and purple. She tugged on her braid nervously. "Glynda told me to do it. It looks weird, doesn't it?"

"...No."

"You hesitated."

"What? No, I didn't!"

"Careful, James, or I'll dye your hair pink too. And since your hair is dark, it'd have to be permanent."

"Stop ganging up on him." Tatiana laughed. "You two are ridiculous."

"Fine," Alexander sniffed, "I'll just take my ridiculous self and go to the dance alone."

"Probably should go…" Glynda glanced up at the clock. "It starts in a few minutes."

"Everyone ready to show off their new box-stepping skills?"

The resulting groan was response enough.

~:~

**2.**

"All right, what mission do you guys want to do?"

James shrugged. "You're leader, your choice."

"Might as well do 'search and destroy'." Glynda adjusted her backpack. Only the occasional faded streak of pink remained in her hair.

"You ever notice how she seems to switch back and forth between bubbly and serious?" the dark-haired boy whispered. "It's kinda creepy."

"Don't you dare let her hear that if you want to live." Alexander nodded at Glynda. "Yeah, we can do that. Be right back." The silver-haired boy disappeared into the crowd. Just as quickly as he had left, he appeared again. "We're going to a village on the outskirts of the kingdom. We leave in a few minutes, so we have to leave now."

Tatiana frowned. "Are you all right?"

Alexander smiled thinly. "Fine."

…

"Are you okay, Alexander?"

"I'm fine. Heights make me sick."

"We've been off the airship for ten minutes. Besides, you seemed fine."

"_Seemed_. I did not _feel_ fine." Alexander pulled away from his team. "How long— " He froze.

Huge black wolves roamed the village. Men, women, and children fled in every who failed to escape hung from the beasts' mouths or claws.

"Off: Etro!"

ARGT charged forward. Alexander drew his sword, launched himself into the air, and plunged Nīlama into a Beowolf's head. Its packmate lunged, only to lose its lower body. With the two corpses dissipating behind him, the silver-haired boy dove into a nearby pack.

Glynda stood on a roof, using her telekinesis to get the villagers away from the Grimm. They were lowered onto the roofs.

James slammed his gunblade into one of the wolves, then fired several rounds through its body into another Grimm behind it.

Tatiana darted back and forth, tearing through fur, muscle, and bone with her claws.

One of the Beowolves— this one larger in size than most— clawed at the civilians. It managed to grab a small child.

"James!" The blonde leapt off the roof, hand grabbing at empty air at her side. She rammed herself into the Grimm.

It swatted her away.

"I can't get a clear shot!" James called. "I'll hit the kid!"

"Hurry!" Glynda said, struggling to her feet. "Or— "

_Crack._

Blood dripped from the Beowolf's maw. It lunged at the nearest target: Glynda.

On the other side of the village, Alexander and Tatiana stood back to back amongst a pack of Grimm. "You okay?"

"Just great."

They lunged in opposite directions, blades flashing as monster after monster fell.

Tatiana fell back to her leader's side. "You sure? You've been acting— " Dodge. Lunge. "You've been acting weird since we got here."

"Not the time." Alexander cut down the last Beowolf, then turned to survey the village. Civilians clustered on roofs, watching in morbid curiosity as—

'_Oh, look. Glynda's bashing heads— literally. Look at that: that one's arm is bent out of shape.'_

"Glynda, I think they're dead."

The Grimm dropped to the ground.

The blonde stepped over the corpses, dusting herself off. "I need a new weapon."

"What's wrong with your riding crop?"

"I almost died, James. If I'd had a gun— heck, even a knife— I would've been fine."

"I'll get you one for your birthday," Alexander said. "Too bad you— what happened?!"

Three long gashes marred Glynda's face. She rubbed her eyes as blood streamed into them. "I'm fine."

"For the love of Etro, what makes you think you're fine?" He turned to the villagers who were carefully descending from the roofs. "Is there a doctor here?" He looked over his shoulder at Tatiana. "Help them."

"Right." The brunette leapt onto the nearest roof, grabbed a civilian, and jumped down. Though the man screamed, they made it down safely. This process was repeated until all the villagers were on the ground. Tatiana moved to the next roof.

"Thank you." One of the women smiled. "In that house over there is the village doctor. She will take care of your friend."

"Thanks."

"I'm fine!"

"Shut up." Alexander dragged the blonde to the house and pushed open the door.

A broom crashed down on his head.

He shook it off, blinking rapidly, and looked up.

A woman with dark eyes and hair gasped. "I am so sorry. I thought you were— "

"It's fine. I need you to help her." He pushed Glynda forward.

Blood dripped into her eyes. She blinked rapidly.

"Right. Go keep Lilu company."

"L-Lilu?"

The doctor pushed him toward a curtained-off section of the room. "Please and thank you."

Alexander pushed the curtain open.

There was a gasp. "Rufus!" An old woman with greying purple hair lay in bed, thick blankets covering her legs. One of her eyes was pale and unseeing.

"Lilu…" He smiled. "You've gotten old, squidge."

"And you've gotten younger, ya old sot." She adjusted her glasses, narrowing her eyes. "Though my eyes aren't the best. But you should be long dead by now. You aren't a ghost, are you?"

"No." The silver-haired boy laughed. He walked over and put his hand over hers. "See? Flesh and blood." His face sobered. "I encountered a...well, for lack of better term, a divine being a long time ago. That is the best explanation I have for why I am the way I am."

"And what are you? Immortal?" Lilu grinned. "An angel, perhaps? I always thought you were too handsome to be human."

"Please!" Alexander's smile returned full force. "It's good to see you, Lilu. I missed you."

"And I you." She touched the pin on his scarf. "...You kept it."

"Why wouldn't I? It— "

"Alexander!"

The silver-haired boy winked and stood, removing his hand from hers. "That's my cue. I'll try to visit again before we leave for Atlas."

"Atlas?!"

"Didn't I tell you?" He grinned. "I'm training to be a Huntsman. Guess you inspired me in more ways than one."

"Rufus— "

"My name is Alexander now, by the way— Alexander Ozpin. It's nice to meet you again." Alexander gave a mock salute. "See ya, squidge."

As he pushed past the curtain, Glynda looked up at him, eyes their natural blue. "Who were you talking to?"

His smile was nearly blinding. "Just an old friend."


	34. Brawl

"And with that, team SSSN moves onto the doubles round!"

The teachers' lounge was filled with laughter as lien was passed.

"You just need to give up, James." Kim Jun Hwan laughed as he divided up the money from the betting pool. "This is— what? Your third time losing?"

"Fourth," Glynda corrected. "The first time we bet cookies, remember?"

"Yeah, well, is no one going to mention the fact that Glynda's won every single round?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The blonde collected her earnings, her face completely straight. "I simply have faith in my students."

Ozpin laughed. "Are these the same students you criticized during the initiation?"

"Shut up." She swatted at him. "They weren't my students at that point."

"Their acceptance letters begged to differ."

"Are you having marriage problems?" Ayala Peach asked. Had it been anyone else, the question would have been teasing and facetious, but between her tendency to take things literally and her tendency to panic over small things…

A smirk tugged on Ozpin's lips. He opened his mouth, no doubt ready to fire off some sarcastic comment, when an Atlas officer burst in.

"Sir!" The soldier saluted. "Sorry to disturb you, but a fight involving Corporal Schnee and a drunk man is occurring in the courtyard."

"Qrow," Glynda muttered. She rose from the couch.

"You two stay here," Ironwood commanded. "I can handle this." He strode out of the room.

"That would be our cue." The headmaster using his cane as a support.

"But James said he had it covered."

"James says a lot of things, Ayaka."

As Ozpin and Goodwitch exited, Jun Hwan opened the nearest window and dumped out his drink. "Well, they're not coming back."

By the time the professors arrived at the scene of the fight, it was already over. A crowd of students had gathered. Ironwood, flanked by his soldiers, seemed ready to give a white-haired woman (Winter Schnee, if familiar resemblance was to be believed) a dressing down. Just beyond them stood Qrow Branwen.

"Now, now, everyone," Ozpin said. The students turned to look at him. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, and I assure you it has better seats— _and_ popcorn." He swirled his coffee for emphasis.

When no one moved, Professor Goodwitch narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Break it up, everyone! We will take care of this."

Ironwood nodded. "Let's go," he said to Schnee. As they walked away, the blonde stalked over to the damaged areas and began repairing them. Not for the first time, Ozpin (and the school budget) thanked God for her existence.

A squeal diverted his attention to none other than Ruby Rose who hung on Qrow's arm.

'_Ah, I forgot. He's her uncle.'_

"Qrow!" he called. "A word, please."

The scythe-wielder dropped his niece.

Ozpin turned away, joined by Glynda and Qrow moments later.

"So, how've my nieces been doing?"

"They're doing well," said Glynda. "Thwarting robberies, preventing...complete destruction of Vale, winning their team matches— it seems that they're taking after STRQ."

Qrow laughed. "Is that good or bad?"

"We'll see. Especially since— "

"Since what?" His red eyes narrowed. He slowed to a stop.

"Since you and Tai Yang were known to be rather wild back in those days," Ozpin cut in. "But as much as I would like to reminisce, we really mustn't keep the General waiting."

"Aw, don't use your headmaster voice on me. Save that for _the General._ Speaking of which—"

"Qrow," the headmaster said tiredly, "please, just save it. We will discuss this later."

"Whatever floats your boat, _Headmaster_." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll hold you to that."

* * *

**Anybody else a sad, blubbering mess after Sunday's episode? **


	35. Doubt

Despite his fervent wish for a peaceful life, he never seemed bitter about becoming headmaster of Beacon and, subsequently, a member of Gallus Niv. He had been surprised by the Maidens' existence (especially as their tale had been told on Cocoon) but took up the mantle of protection once more without a single shred of hesitation.

She was a bit more reluctant and very...vocal about her doubts. For weeks, she had fumed, lashing out at anything that dared to move. Even inanimate objects cowered as she passed; windows shattered under her gaze, light posts attempted to pass as modern art. Students in the Ohm dorm often heard her voice from the floor above, yelling, but were unable to discern her words.

Then, as quickly as it had ignited, her anger passed, and she too joined the ranks of Gallus Niv. (And the students' list of conspiracy theories grew.)

Qrow did not join by choice. Due to certain...circumstances surrounding his sister, he was pulled into the organization. Perhaps that is the reason he became a bitter old man.

James, like Ozpin, joined when appointed headmaster of Atlas. He had not been recommended by Ozpin— in fact, save for birthday and Christmas cards, they had not spoken since Oz moved to Vale. But if the silver-haired man's vote to nominate his old friend was hastily cast, no one commented.

It had been a close vote— six in favor of James, five in favor of an older woman. Perhaps, if Ozpin had voted differently, things would be different. Perhaps, had the woman won, the Atlas military would have been separated from the government, James wouldn't have changed, and no questionable research would have been conducted.

Perhaps then, he wouldn't have to ask a student— a First-Year, no less— to agree to a process that might make her lose herself.

But, had the woman been chosen, perhaps the enemy would have already won.

* * *

**I churned this out today, so if there are mistakes or logical fallacies, that's why. (Lord, please make this make chapter make sense...)**

**In case you didn't catch it, Gallus Niv is the organization that protects the Seasonal Maidens. Gallus is a Roman surname meaning "rooster." Niv is Hebrew for "fang" which is like a tooth. **

**:D Yeah, I just went there.**


	36. Two Roads

The room was silent as Pyrrha Nikos retreated into the elevator.

"...Why are we doing this? How can we ask her to possibly lose herself in an experimental and, not to mention, inhumane process?"

"Inhumane?!"

"You are literally ripping a soul from a living creature. _How is that sound like okay to you?_"

Qrow looked at Ozpin. "You gave them alcohol, didn't you?"

The silver-haired man shrugged, but couldn't suppress his smile. It faded quickly.

"The girl took it well!"

"Maker, James, when was the last time you interacted with a human? She's obviously terrified!"

"Now, now, everyone," Ozpin cut in, "we've all had a stressful day and are a bit flagged. Why don't we retire to my office to watch the tonight's match, hm?"

"No thanks." Qrow started for the elevator. "You three can have your 'team bonding' time. I'm not really into that crap."

"That _is_ a shame. I'll have to pitch that bottle of Lockhart then."

"...I guess I can stay for a few minutes."

~:~

"All I'm saying is that you could have found something else to occupy your time! You don't even have a reason for researching aura transfer!"

"That's not— "

"You had this ready before Amber was ever hurt, and you know it!"

"Could you _please_ stop yelling at me? You know I can't stand it when you get like this!"

"Stop crying, you big baby!"

Qrow slammed his head repeatedly into the Ozpin's desk. "I think I hate them even more when they're drunk."

"Ha! Glynda's not even drunk yet."

As if called by the mention of her name, the blonde sat on Ozpin's desk and leaned back so she could see the tournament livestream. Her elbow rested on the headmaster's shoulder.

The silver-haired man rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Who's this kid Yang's fighting?" asked Qrow from his place beside Ozpin.

"Mercury Black, if the jumbotron reads correctly." (It was a legitimate concern. Have you ever heard of King Kai? Neither had anyone else until he showed up for Qing Bai's match in the 2004 Vytal Festival.)

Sounds familiar…" The scythe-wielder frowned. "Yo, Glynda— "

"Already on it." She pulled up Mercury's profile. "Mercury Black, a Second-Year at Haven and part of team CREM…" Her eyes widened. "Stop the match."

"What?"

"Ozpin, call the officials and have them shut it down. James, use your army and find this girl." Glynda held up a picture of a black-haired woman with eyes like burning coals. "Do not let her get away. If you do, we're all dead."

Ironwood stared at her, eyes wide.

"Go!"

He shot off toward the elevator and stumbled through the doors.

"Qrow, go with him."

"But— "

"Qrow, listen to her." Ozpin's eyes were fixed on the picture of the woman, even as the scythe-wielder shot him a look of disbelief and left. "Calanthe Foth...what are you doing back at Beacon?"

* * *

**In case you didn't guess, Calanthe is Cinder (I changed Queen has P(r)awns to fit with this) and I am not going to be following the official storyline of RWBY anymore. **

**For...reasons. **

**Calanthe Foth means "Beautiful flower" and "foot," so it (barely) fits with the color name rules.**


	37. Aftermath

The room was dark, save for a single lamp hanging from the ceiling. It was much like the one she'd questioned Ruby in all those months ago, but this interrogation would undoubtedly prove less fortuitous.

"It's been a long time, Calanthe," she said as she sat down, "or would you rather be called Cinder?"

The woman's eyes, despite their fiery color, were cold. "How far you've fallen."

"Funny. I was just going to say the same thing." Glynda folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Never took you for a terrorist."

"I prefer to think of myself as a...revolutionary." The dark-haired woman smirked. "What was it that Ozpin used to say? 'Even those we see as heroes today may have once been considered terrorists'?"

"Those he spoke of never intended to hurt civilians, and they would _never_ have allowed innocents to be caught in the crosshairs." Glynda suppressed a wince. How many innocents had been hurt during her crusade against the fal'Cie all those years ago?

"Every war has its collateral damage. Isn't that right, General?"

"Cut the crap. We've already gotten a confession out of one of your teammates—"

Fiery eyes narrowed. "Did you now?"

"Oh, yes." A small grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. "They were very eager to share your plan to trick Yang and Pyrrha into injuring or destroying their opponents and use the resulting chaos to unleash Grimm onto the school."

A scowl marred the dark-haired woman's face, but it cleared quickly. "That is unfortunate."

"In fact, the only unanswered question is why." Glynda leaned forward against the table. "So, Miss Foth, why did you plot to destroy us?"

"You have grown arrogant in your old age." Calanthe's smile returned. "You're so quick to assume that our agenda was against you."

Glynda's eyes narrowed. "Then do enlighten me."

"Haven't you ever just reveled in anarchy? Delighted in watching the world burn?" She leaned back. "At least, that is what my benefactor wants. _I _have a more….straightforward plan."

"Revenge?"

Calanthe's smirk was answer enough.

"But why?" the blonde stressed. She shifted in her seat. "We caught the woman who kidnapped you. She was found guilty and has been in jail for years, so you have no…" She faltered. "Unless it's not her you want."

Flames engulfed the table, spreading to the floor. Glynda's form flickered and disappeared as Calanthe rose from the table and strode to the door. It burst open, flying off the hinges. The dark-haired woman's eyes blazed with the Fall Maiden's power.

White foam blasted her from behind, making her stumble. She turned, just in time for a red metal canister to collide with her face.

Glynda approached cautiously, fire extinguisher hovering closely. She tapped the comm in her ear. "You were right. Again. Cinder tried to escape. She's detained for now, but I'm going to need some backup— and a medic."

"**Are you all right?"** Ozpin asked quickly.

"I'm fine. Your hologram plan worked perfectly. The medic is for Cinder— she'll likely have a concussion with the hit she just took."

"**Mother of Grimm, what did you do now?"**

~:~

The elevator doors opened, and Glynda emerged, scroll in hand. "Cinder's in a holding cell with her magic sealed. Tell the Council that they can try her whenever they're ready." She kept her eyes on her to-do list. "Now that that fiasco is over, we need to debug our systems and prepare for the incoming students."

"All work and no play, huh?" Qrow shook his head in mock despair and leaned against the window. "Time to stage an intervention, Ozpin."

The headmaster's mouth quirked into a grin."Qrow is right, Glynda, We've won the battle, if not the war. We can afford to take the night off." He nodded toward the tournament livestream on his desk.

"You just want to avoid your paperwork." She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Move over."

On screen, knives flew. A young redheaded girl danced around Pyrrha Nikos.

"Is this the next match then?"

"Fall candidate versus one of Ironwood's kids." Branwen smirked. "You gonna bet on this one?"

"No," Glynda deadpanned, "because it is illegal for staff to bet on tournament matches. That being said, I'll bet that the Atlas girl wins."

"I'll take that. Whoever loses has to…" Qrow thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Winner decides."

"It can be anything?"

"Sure."

"Good. I just won." She grinned. "So, Qrow, do you remember the 'butter suit' from _Bye Bye Birdie_?"

"Oh, no," he groaned. "We agreed never to speak of that again!"

"Go get it, go wear it, and let us take pictures to post on every single social media site. Then we'll talk."

The scythe-wielder cringed and dragged himself to the elevator. "I'm never betting with her ever again!"

"That's what you said the last time!" Ozpin shook his head in amusement, but his smile quickly faded. "Are you all right, Glynda?"

"I'm fine. I just need some normality after that interrogation." She rubbed her temples tiredly. "I think Cinder wanted revenge against us for...for not protecting her or something."

"She was kidnapped and had dust infused into her skin. I wouldn't be surprised if she went a bit crazy after that."

"Yes, but…" Glynda shook her head. "Never mind. Let's just figure out how to remove the Maiden's power out of her so we can put this entire thing behind us. We probably should have waited to tell her about them."

"Yeah. Bad move on your part."

"My part? I thought you told her!"

"No, Lucian was still running Gallus Niv back then, and he definitely didn't tell her."

"Then how…?"

The elevator dinged, and Qrow emerged in a shiny gold-colored suit. "I swear, Glynda…" Red dusted his cheeks. "I haven't worn this since I was nineteen."

"_We love you, Branwen. Oh, yes, we do! We love you, Branwen, and we'll be true!"_

"Please don't."

"Say, Conrad. You still drinkin' a lot?"

"I hate you both. You're supposed to be the sane one, Ozpin! ...Ah! Don't take my picture!"

**A/N: In case you're confused about the ending or "the butter suit," I had this idea that team STRQ had been in the musical ****_Bye Bye Birdie _****and Qrow had been Conrad Birdie (think Elvis-ripoff). The "butter suit" is referencing the gold suit Birdie wears (in the production I saw, and everyone joked about it being made of butter). ****_We Love You, Branwen_**** is a cheap parody of ****_We Love You, Conrad_**** (which you should look up to get the full effect). **


	38. Las Ruinas

**Warning: the following chapter contains trace amounts of OzGlyn/an unnamed (but rather obvious) ship. Those with allergies should not consume.**

* * *

"Alexander and James of Atlas versus Poppy and Oren of Shade!"

Alexander shifted his weight and readied Nīlama.

"You finally going to use that thing for real?" James smirked.

"Focus, James," the leader of ARGT chided. "Don't get cocky."

The two panels around the platform lowered, and the randomized biomes began to rise. ARGT's side was filled with dark, shallow water, surface flecked with algae. Tall narrow trees creaked and swayed in a nonexistent breeze, roots deep in the mud.

From the other side, a city emerged, its buildings tall and crumbling. What looked like wheelless cars lay abandoned on the roads, narrow as they were.

The color drained from Alexander's face.

"Uh-oh!" Poppy Birch grinned. She shook her wild red hair out of her face. "Something wrong, old man? I hope you can still fight~"

"Worry about yourself!" James snapped

A small boy wolfed down the last of his chips and threw the bag away. "Overcompensating?" He tugged his gray hood further down his head, yellow eyes gleaming despite being hidden by shadow.

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

Oren sprang backward, whipping out twin guns and firing. James blocked the bullets with the broad of his sword and lunged at him.

Poppy aimed a flurry of knives at Alexander who, recovering his wits just in time, ducked out of the way and disappeared. The redhead grinned. "At least, you're making this interesting." She sprinted into the ruins. "Come and get me, old man!"

Alexander pressed himself against the wall of a building, illusion shielding him from sight. '_Idiot! Of all the places you could have gone, you run straight into the—'_

_The earth seemed to be shaking from the screams if not the explosion. It wasn't as if bombings weren't common, but something about this one was different— quieter, maybe? — and the screams carried a sense of sheer terror and...wrongness. _

_He dropped his journal and sprinted outside. People stood in doorways, stuck their heads out windows, pointing, staring at the smoking, crumbling mass that had once been the moon._

_Another scream pierced the air. A large black creature with webbed wings and horns like Chaos swooped down from the sky and let out a bloodcurdling screech. Shadows dripped from its body and fell to the earth, forming other, similar creatures with white demonic masks._

_The crowd scattered, surging throughout the streets or into homes as the monsters descended and ripped innocents to shreds. Blood ran down the streets, and— _

_Mikayla. Where was Mikayla? _

_The people wouldn't stop screaming—_

_Nononononono! He couldn't lose her! No, please— _

_Alarms blared as vehicles were overturned, and— _

_He searched for any sign of teal, any sign that she was okay because he _couldn't _lose her— not again— but it would be so much easier to look, to think, to _breathe _if everything would just stop moving and be quiet and if the glass would just stop shattering, shattering, shattering because he was going to go insane or collapse and then get eaten by one of those wolf things, and he needed to find Mikaylanoraluminaclairealyseartemisarenaglynda before— _

He awoke to white walls, sheets, and curtains. (And oh, how he loathed white, even after four thousand years. He had half a mind to take a page out of Glynda's book and splash dye all over them.) Moonlight streamed through the windows which was strange because the tournament fight had been in the middle of the afternoon…

"Crap!" Alexander shot up into a sitting position, then groaned and fell back onto the pillows. He blinked blearily, a sudden migraine blurring his vision.

"Alexander!" There was movement beside him, and suddenly Glynda was kneeling at his bedside. "Thank God you're all right."

He released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "What happened?"

"You tell me. You collapsed in the middle of the match. We lost, by the way."

The silver-haired boy grimaced. "Sorry. It was probably my fault. PTSD trigger. The ruins…" He shook his head. "But you already knew that."

Glynda nodded. "I had an inkling," she said dryly. "Especially after the announcer thanked the Mantle Museum of Natural History," the blonde pitched her voice in imitation of a man's baritone, "'for aiding the biome design team with their wonderful replica of an ancient Atlesian city.'" The corners of her mouth lifted as her partner shook his head in amusement. "Well, now that I know you're okay, I should go tell James and Tatiana you're awake." As she moved to stand, Alexander's hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"Ah." He let go. "Sorry."

The blonde gave him a long look and sat down on the bed. "It was of that day, wasn't it? The day the moon shattered?" She spoke in a hushed tone, careful not to let outside ears hear.

The silver-haired boy nodded slowly, eyes never leaving hers.

Glynda sighed, but smiled and ruffled his hair. "What am I going to do with you?" She stood, taking his hand in hers. "Come on, clingy. Let's go get the others, hm?"

* * *

**:D I blame Korean dramas for everything. **

**Well, if I didn't explain something well, shoot me a message through via the review box and tell me how big my plot holes are. **


	39. The Beginning of the End

Golden light filtered through his office windows as the sun retreated behind the surrounding mountains. It was quiet— almost deathly so, save for the ever-turning cogs above him.

Ozpin breathed in deeply, the aroma of his fifth coffee still permeating the air. '_Peace at last.'_

A holographic screen appeared above his desk with a "ding."

He suppressed a sigh. "Come in."

The doors slid open, and a soaking wet Glynda Goodwitch marched stiffly in. "I take back every complaint against teams RWBY and JNPR."

"What happened?"

"Water balloons."A stack of papers enveloped in purple aura followed her closely and, with a flick of a wrist, placed themselves on his desk. "Here are the damage reports from today."

"Damage reports?!" His eyes widened as he flipped through the thick stack.

"LVDR has decided to go on a paranormal hunt, tore through the library, and is making their way across the campus. MLCH descended on the dorm's rec room and has somehow destroyed the television. MINT got into the kitchen, so we're going to have to replace all the food, have someone clean it, and replace the stove and microwave. Oh, and CPPR and TRDS got into another fight." Heels clacked against tile as Goodwitch approached the desk. "This new class is the devil."

"That is what you said about every single class for the past five years." Ozpin smiled wryly. "Though I'll admit that this one seems especially..."

"Evil?"

"Rambunctious. Still," he began scanning the first report, "It's better than an invasion."

"Please, don't even joke about that— after what happened last year, I don't want to push our luck." Glynda removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly. "But I suppose you're right. Not that we won't be in for one he— "

"Glynda."

"—eeeeck of a ride." She shook her head in amusement. "Well, I shall go change into something more appropriate. I don't believe that 'soaking wet' is or should ever be acceptable to the teachers' dress code."

The silver-haired man snorted. "What dress code?"

With a roll of her eyes, she spun on her heel and started toward the elevator.

"Ah, Miss Goodwitch, before you go..." Professor Ozpin came out from around his desk and handed her a folder. "Please look over these files. I would like to discuss them during our meeting tomorrow morning."

"What is— " She looked up from the file she had been scanning. "Already?"

"I'm afraid so. We have less than three years left, Glynda."

"...Yes. Yes, of course. You're right. Well, then," Goodwitch stalked back toward the door, "I will look them over tonight." Just as she entered the elevator, however, she paused. "This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin. I can't believe it's here already."

Their eyes met for a brief moment before the doors slid shut, cutting off his response and leaving him alone in a dark office.

* * *

**Uh, sorry that I didn't update in over a year. Between school and other projects, I didn't have the time, energy, or inspiration to work on this, but I'm back now! I'm hoping to finish and edit it by the end of the summer. **


	40. A Penny Saved

"Absolutely not."

The little red-headed girl before them winced before turning pleading eyes toward Ozpin.

He smiled as reassuringly as he could. "Come now, General. Surely we can work something out."

"She knows exactly why we can't," Ironwood's eyes were cold and narrowed as he bore down on Miss Polendina, "and she should know better than to ask."

"To transfer schools, James? What's so wrong about— "

Ozpin placed a hand on Goodwitch's arm, interrupting her tirade before it could begin. "What Miss Goodwitch means to say is that perhaps it is time you let us in on the secret." Though his smile was still present, his gaze was increasingly frigid.

The two headmasters' eyes locked for one brief, terse moment. Anger smoldered in Ironwood's gaze, warring with his opponent's ice, but the heat of his passion could not stand against the millenniums of experience and the sheer stubborn nature in Ozpin's corner.

The dark-haired man turned away, taking out his scroll in stiff, short movements. Once he pulled up a file of schematics, he tossed the device onto Ozpin's desk.

Professor Goodwitch let out a gasp. "An android?"

Ironwood nodded. "She was created by Savio Geppetto: a third-party inventor. When he applied for a grant to create Penny, the government agreed— with some...suggestions on further additions to her design."

"Let me guess," Glynda said dryly, "you told him to make her also a gun."

"Glynda, please." Ozpin rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "I agree that this...complicates matters. Atlas cannot simply send one of their weapons to another kingdom, and if our council were to find out, they could interpret it as an act of war."

Penny flinched.

"However, Miss Polendina is not simply one of your weapons."

Red blotches began to appear on the general's skin. "Oz—"

"Please, listen for a moment, General." He sent a reassuring smile to the student in question. "Her father is not one of your engineers, regardless of your assistance. At best, she is one of your students; at worst, she has been commandeered for the army. In both cases, Miss Polendina has full right to transfer to or seek refuge at Beacon." Ozpin paused a moment, studying his former teammate. "Let us compromise then."

"...What do you propose?"

""Miss Polendina and her team will attend Beacon for a year as exchange students. In return, we will send one of our own to Atlas. Think of it as a sort of...diplomatic mission. We illustrate that the incident during the Vytal Festival has not divided us, and Miss Polendina will have the opportunity to stay with her friends for a time. Surely Atlas can agree to that?"

For a long time, Ironwood said nothing. Then, finally, "I'll discuss it with the council. Until they reach a consensus, I will take Penny back to Atlas with me. Any objections?"

They turned their gazes to the student in question.

"I...no, sir."

The general jerked out a nod, turned, and began to stalk toward the elevator. Penny hesitated a moment, before giving a small wave and following. Neither Glynda nor Ozpin moved until they were gone.

"An android with a soul," Goodwitch breathed. "_Etro_, even in our day..."

Her partner hummed in agreement. "No, we never had such capabilities. Strange— they might finally be surpassing that era of technology."

"About time." Glynda watched as the headmaster pulled up his email. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I thought that it might be useful to contact Miss Polendina's father. After all, it was his daughter we were discussing." A shadow of a grin touched his face. "And if Koray receives a new member soon— well, certainly I had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, you are _evil_."

* * *

**So, what have we learned today? Well, firstly that Penny is actually pretty hard to write in serious situations, especially since she has so few lines to reference. Secondly, that by publishing this chapter after "The Beginning of the End," I goofed up the linear chronology. That will be fixed later. **

**Thirdly, that this story probably won't be finished this summer. Oops. There goes that plan.**


End file.
